Angels Come in Many Forms
by Freedom Prime
Summary: Optimus Prime gets trapped on earth for a while, like for five years! There, he befriends a human girl named Charlotte. During his quest to contact his Autobots and return to Cybertron, the Prime finds that there is more to Earth then meets the eye...meanwhile the Autobots on Cybertron learn to adjust without their Prime (mix between the Cybertron, Movie, and Prime universes)
1. Chapter 1: The Unexpected

[Heads Up! Overall this story is rated M for parts, but the majority of it is more like Rated T and K]

**Chapter One: The Unexpected**

When Optimus awoke, he instantly felt pain everywhere and boy did it hurt. He already knew that his left arm was in the worst condition. He didn't even bother to online his optics to look at the rest of his damaged body. He was hit so hard, he was knocked out of his Super Mode. Now that he was conscious, he remembered his recent encounter with Megatron. His memory was all too vivid. They were fighting on Cybertron with their armies around them one minute, and then next thing he knew, he and Megatron were in another part of the universe.

_Optimus guessed that they went through a space portal or something, but he didn't have time to put much thought into it because Megatron recovered faster and charged at him._

"_Die Prime!" shouted Megatron. He was fighting Cybertron's supposedly most powerful warrior, a Prime. The only Cybertronian capable of barely surviving a fight with the decepticon leader. _

_ "Maybe in your dreams, Megatron!" replied Optimus Prime as he dodged another blow from Megatron. The two titans where in deep space and were far from any 'known' civilization. They were alone, and all they had was their hated enemy to keep them company. _

_ "Fall!" Megatron ordered. He was getting frustrated. He hadn't a clue as to where he was and Optimus sure wasn't helping. He noticed Optimus had stopped using his left arm during his attacks. He was weakening. "You will die here, and your precious autobots will never find you!" Threatening the Prime was making him feel slightly better._

_ "We will see about that!" Optimus glared back. He also knew that his opponent was weak from battle, but he had learned the hard way just how deceptive Megatron could be. _

_What the two leaders definitely knew was that they both were_ _low on energon, injured severely, and wanted the other gone. They simultaneously charged up all the energy they had left, and both went in for the final blow. Their fists collided and caused a blast that sent them in opposite directions. _

That was the last thing Optimus remembered before he went unconcious. It was after Optimus recollected that battle when he realized he was on alien soil. And that he wasn't alone…


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrivel

**Chapter Two: The Arrival**

In the forest of Flagstaff, there was a young teenage girl hiking through the woods. Her name was Charlotte Ire. She, as usual, got lost. "My parents really odd to keep some kind of tracking device on me, or something," she thought out loud to herself as to calm her nerves. Yes, she did get lost a lot, but never in the woods.

She was wearing her favorite 'Uncle Sam' t-shirt and tattered navy blue jeans. She was carrying a camouflaged backpack with a few supplies in it. One of those items was her best friend, Leonardo the blue I-pod nano (4th generation). "Instead of bringing an I-pod, I should have probably brought a walkie-talkie or phone. Oh, well." She put her wavy, brown hair in a ponytail. With her hair now up, she was ready for business. "Time to figure out the way back to me familia."

Charlotte guessed that she had been lost for over an hour, or at least around that time. She wasn't exactly sure. She was suddenly startled out of her train of thought by what sounded like thunder. She looked up, just in time, to see some type of meteor fly over and crash not that far ahead.

"To investigate or not to investigate…investigate." She knew the saying "curiosity killed the cat" but she just had to check it out. She ran in the direction of the meteor and stopped at the crater that was in the ground. Charlotte looked inside a saw what looked like a robot, but this robot was massive! She was amazed by it. While she was staring at it, she noticed just how banged up it looked. There were dents, scratches, and dirt all over the robot. The damage looked pretty bad and there was even some type of light blue liquid leaking out in some places.

"Ouch." It looked painful.

After she spoke, the robot's eyes onlined a gold color. _'Oh crap, I woke it up…'_ She thought as her eyes widened in fear. She dared not to move. It was after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence that the red and blue robot moved its head in her direction, looking at her. She couldn't help but think, _"Good bye world."_ She took several steps backward, but tripped over her own feet and landed on her behind with an audible "oolf"

Optimus had known he wasn't alone when he heard a voice. He onlined his optics and easily hacked into the nearest satellite and started learning things from the World Wide Web as fast as he could. He learned many things about Earth in just a few seconds, such as its languages and things about its inhabitants. He then decided to look for the owner of that voice he heard. He turned his head and saw a small human girl. But when he looked at her, he noticed that he scared her. He looked away quickly. But too fast for his neck, for it made an awful noise and he groaned in pain.

Charlotte's guess that the robot was in pain was confirmed when she heard it groan. She didn't know robots could even feel pain. She assumed that it had shied away as to not scare her. _'Well would you look at that, it's a sweet giant robot...but geez, it didn't have to go and hurt itself!'_ she thought. She slowly got off the ground and continued thinking to herself, _"Maybe this robot isn't all too bad."_ She couldn't shake the feeling that if it was going to hurt her, but she also had the feeling that it would have done that already. _"Great, now I'm feeling bad for the machine."_

Optimus slowly looked back at the human approaching him. Her face, to him, looked like it showed sympathy. The girl gave him a little smile, to try and show him that she wasn't scared anymore. Charlotte couldn't help being sorry for the red, silver, and blue robot. All she could think of was to give it a smile. The robot then gave her a small smile back. She definitely didn't feel scared of it anymore. But then, it spoke…

"Little One, what is your name?"

The robot's metallic voice sounded kind of like a males. It was soft, comforting and yet, very commanding. This robot wanted an answer. So, she answered the best she could.

"Um…Charlotte"


	3. Chapter 3: Alien Background

**Chapter Three: Alien Background**

Charlotte…He liked that name. It was pretty, and it was different from the Cybertronian names he was used to.

"Charlotte," yep, he definitely loved it. He liked the way it sounded rolling off his voice box, "my name is Optimus Prime." He tried sitting up, but his body wouldn't let him. The damage was too extensive; he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Ah, hi, Opt-i-moss Prime," Charlotte attempted, but failed at saying his name. She was hoping he wouldn't get angry with her pronouncing his name wrong.

"Optimus…" The Prime corrected. He was having a little trouble keeping his voice steady and not trembling from how much pain he was in.

'_Oh good, he's not mad'_ she thanked in her head. "Right, sorry. Um, Optimus, are you okay?" Charlotte wanted to get on his good side, just in case. But Optimus did look like something was wrong with him.

Optimus tried clearing his throat to steady his voice. "I'm not going to lie to you little Charlotte, I've been better. My latest encounter with Megatron has left a significant amount of damage that will take quite some time to heal." Then it hit the Prime, where was Megatron? Could he be on Earth? But did it matter; he was just as badly damaged as he was. Then Charlotte brought him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, is there anything I can do to help? I know I don't look like much, but I'm full of surprises." Charlotte winked at him while turning her hands into guns and firing them. She had a feeling she couldn't do anything for him, but might as well ask. Besides, she wanted to be his friend, and he was pretty cool.

She earned a chuckle from Optimus. He had never seen a human before and he was sure she had never seen a Cybertronian before, either. And yet, she was perfectly relaxed and making jokes with him. He could really use a friend right now. He was on an alien planet, and he was all alone…"Thank you for the offer, if there is anything I'll be sure to let you know." He tried sitting up again, and this time he succeeded, barely. He ended up leaning on one of the walls in the crater he made. His self-repair system seemed to finally come back online. It also alerted him that his flight tech and left arm would need a medic to fix it if he wanted to ever use it properly again. _Perfect…_

While Optimus was making himself comfortable, Charlotte thought about what he said earlier about that guy named Mega-something. "So I'm guessing that you're in this condition because of that Mega-guy?" Optimus nodded to answer her question. Charlotte then sat down next to the crater and let her feet hang. "Why were you fighting? Did you owe the guy money or something?"

Though he was in pain, she was brightening his day. Besides, he needed to repair and sitting down and not moving would help. Might as well tell her the story…"Millions of years ago, Cybertron was a planet of peace... until the Decepticons, lusting for power, began a terrible civil war. The Decepticons are driven by a single undeviating goal: total domination of the universe. But in order to do that, they must destroy the autobots, the only ones capable of stopping their power hungry ways. We autobots find ourselves defending both our own race and other species against the decepticons and upholding justice and freedom throughout the galaxy."

"Wait, we? You're an autobot?"

"Yes, I am. A decepticon would have inflicted harm on you by now."

"Oh, good thing I found an autobot then," Charlotte laughed thankfully, "otherwise that could have been bad. Whew…" She pretended to swipe sweat off her head. _Thank the Lord!_ She thought, things could have been really different.

"I am glad that _you_ found me. I feel things would be different for me too if someone else did. So, I guess the feeling is mutual." Optimus saw that he got the human to smile. He couldn't help but to smile back. She had that effect on him.

"So, since you're in a war and you're an autobot, doesn't that mean you're a soldier or something?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask. She loved soldiers because of what they did, and they looked _ah-mazing_ in their uniforms.

"Yes, I am a soldier." Optimus saw how excited she got when he said that. _'Hmm, she must be interested in military things. That explains the 'Uncle Sam' shirt._' He supposed.

"Oh my gosh, that is so cool! What's your rank?" _An alien, military, giant, robot…can't get much better than that. _Charlotte thought.

"I am the Leader of the Autobots."

_Okay it just got better…_


	4. Chapter 4: Warmth

**Chapter Four: Warmth**

"Okay, okay, so you're a robotic organism form the planet Cybertron. Your people have been in a civil war for centuries. With war comes injuries, hence you current condition. The enemy leader, who is pretty much the harbinger of death, is missing. And that's never a good thing. And hey, the good guy leader is here on Earth, yeah he's a little dinged up here and there but no biggie; he's tough. Right?"

Optimus nodded.

"Good. Where was I? Oh yes, good guy autobot leader…um yeah, your followers are gonna come looking for you and when they see ya like this they gonna be mad. So incoming folks, we be having an alien invasion here real soon." She paused for breath. "So did I miss anything?"

"You pretty much nailed it, as the Earth saying goes, but my 'good guy' autobots won't get 'all crazy' as you interpreted. They would understand the situation." Optimus trying to talk like the humans do; it was confusing but he was getting it. He also couldn't help but liked how the small human spoke, she said things in her own unique way; it was cute.

Charlotte gave the autobot a puzzled look. "Hold on, wait, are you telling me that all the autobots are 'slow to anger' kind of bots and would have words speak for them instead of their actions? Sorry, but that's kinda hard to believe. I doubt every member in your army is like that; I know you can at least name one guy…" She hoped that she didn't sound too harsh, but the perfect army is impossible_._

The Prime chuckled. Oh, he knew just the autobot that wasn't 'Mr. Nice Guy'. But he had to admit to himself that most of his autobots were nice from the get go.

"Ironhide."

"Who?" Charlotte didn't think he would replay so quickly.

"Ironhide, he is my Second in Command. He has been a lifelong friend, battle buddy, and bodyguard. He pretty much isn't nice to anyone, not even me, but that's just how he is. Once you get use to his trigger happy, hardheaded, aggressive ways he can be a great guy. Hmm, now that I think about it," Optimus thought, "he might like you. You would definitely like him."

"Hmm, maybe you could introduce us one day." _So this 'Ironhide' is Optimus' bodyguard, eh, he doesn't seem to be very good at his job from the looks of Optimus' injuries_, Charlotte thought to herself. She suddenly shivered. It got windy while the two were talking. She looked up and saw the dark clouds. It was going to rain. Charlotte felt a drop hit her forehead. _Burr…_ She needed to find some shelter, and she wasn't the only one.

Optimus noticed the change in weather too. He wasn't sure how he would react with the rain and something was wrong with Charlotte; she was shaking. Optimus knew that he shouldn't move since he was trying to repair himself, but he and Charlotte were both going to get out of the rain one way or another.

Charlotte looked back at Optimus and saw his golden eyes flash for a quick second, and then the Prime stood up to his full height. _'O.M.G. he was tall! He looked like a gigantic, robot body builder! He just got more bad-A' _Charlotte thought as she just gawked in awe at the Prime. She would have stared longer if the wind hadn't picked up, but that's when she realized that she needed a jacket, but didn't have one.

Optimus inhaled the cold air to cool is overheated/overworked systems. He took a moment to endure the pain, then he looked down to find his newest friend. He saw her shiver again. He wobbly bent down, got on one knee, and extended his right hand, the good one.

"Charlotte, come with me. I will take you to a warmer place. You can trust me." Optimus felt a small liquid hit his back armor. He felt it again, and again. It started to rain. "Charlotte…" the Prime urged, but without further ado, Charlotte climbed into Optimus' welcoming hand. To her surprise, the smooth metal was warm. Charlotte wanted to cuddle with his fingers because of the warmth that emanated from them. She was freezing. "Hold on." With that, Optimus carefully stood up. He scanned the area and found a suitable space for them not to far off. He held Charlotte close to his spark, for it was the warmest part of his body, with one hand, and with the other he attempted to block the wind and rain from her. He cautiously limped around fallen trees and other forest obstacles, making sure he wouldn't crush any fallen trees. Every so often, he would look down at Charlotte to make sure she was all right. "We are almost there. You will be safe and warm at this place." Optimus didn't know that Charlotte was already warm or that she was probably the safest human on the planet with him protecting her.

"Okay um, Optimus, thank you. I really am grateful for what you are doing. I know you are in pain, and yet, you still want to help me." He was really growing on her…

"You're welcome; besides, I will always protect my friends." The pain could be worst, but it wasn't. They arrived at their destination. It was the side of a mountain. On the mountain, there was a ledge that stretched out into the forest. Optimus would easily fit under it if he sat. They would both be dry. He got down slowly, for his body still ached, and scooted himself under the ledge. With his back against the mountain and his knees up, he still managed to keep Charlotte close to his spark for warmth. "This good enough?" the Prime asked his small friend.

"Yes definitely." Dry and warm, she felt good. But as she was looking at Optimus, she saw that little droplets covered his face. A human would be shivering if they were wet in this weather... "Hey Optimus, are you cold?" Charlotte tried to hold back a sneeze, but failed.

"Not really, my species can withstand much more than the human body." Optimus said matter-of-factly. "You, however, are still cold. Is there anything I can do to help?" She could get sick, and he did not want any harm to happen to her.

Charlotte was actually getting warmer now that she was surrounded by his surprisingly warm body. It was still a little weird how he was living metal. "I don't think there is anything else you can do, you've already helped so much." She said from her sitting position on his hand. She turned around to see that it was raining pretty hard. "I guess we aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

Optimus agreed. His little stride through the forest really tired him out. And he wasn't up to getting wet with all of his fresh, open wounds. "Looks like you're stuck with me." The autobot leader teased.

Charlotte laughed a little. "Yep, looks like it." She noticed Optimus tiredly trying to keep his optics online. _'He must be exhausted,'_ she assumed. "Wanna call it a night?" She yawned as she looked at her watch. It was getting late.

"That sounds like a good idea." Optimus watched as Charlotte got comfortable in his hand, and soon fell asleep, also exhausted from her day. He liked the feeling of her in his hand. So small and fragile, he would ensure her safety as long as he was on this planet.


	5. Chapter 5: The Return Journey

**Chapter Five: The Return Journey**

"Yes! It wasn't a dream! You're real and you're still here with me!" Optimus was startled awake by Charlotte's yelling. His head shot up and hit the top of ledge above him. He lightly laughed at himself as he heard her giggle. He was surprised for a creature being so small being able to be so loud.

"Good morning, Charlotte, sleep well?" the Prime asked in a cheery voice. Primus, he hurt, but this little human was already able to brighten his day.

"I sure did! I slept like a baby. What about you? Sleep well, or whatever you call it?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask as she sat up straight and stretched in Optimus' hand.

"I call it recharge, and yes, I did sleep well thank you." She replied with a 'ah huh'. Optimus let Charlotte climb out of his hand. She walked out of the cave-like structure and stretched. While she was stretching, she looked at her watch. It was 7:12 a.m._ 'My parents are going to flip!'_ she realized.

Optimus detected Charlotte's distress. "Is something wrong, Charlotte?"

"Uh, yeah… I totally forgot that I was lost! My family must be freaking out!" Charlotte shouted. She started pacing back and forth, thinking frantically about what to do.

Her distress was bothering Optimus. He decided to scan the area for human life forms. He didn't pick up anything for five miles, so he searched farther. While he was in recharge, his repair systems had really kicked into gear. Walking shouldn't be a problem, flying on the other hand... "Charlotte, when did you start to realize that you were lost?"

"Well, I started hiking after nine o'clock. I took some breaks, but not much. I was listening to Leo the entire time, so that's why I walked so far."

"Leo?" _Who was this guy?_ Optimus thought.

"Oh, I haven't introduced you two yet. Optimus Prime, this is Leonardo, my blue iPod." Charlotte pulled out her iPod nano, Leo, from her backpack. "I don't go anywhere without him. I named him after one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He always knows the perfect song to play." She then lifted it up as far as she could so Optimus could get a good look. The screen on the iPod flashed in the sunlight.

"Interesting…" Optimus observed, looking at the small device. "Charlotte, the closest human life forms that I picked up are 12.73 miles away. There is a chance that they might be your family." She needed to get back to them, and so did Leo apparently.

"You looked for them?" She couldn't help but think that he did not want to be around her… "Um, yeah, that could be them, I guess… I could go look. Just point me in the right direction, okay" She turned away from him. Charlotte didn't know why she felt this bad, but leaving him didn't feel right.

"Um, sure," Optimus was confused. She sounded like she wanted to go alone. "But just so you know, I do plan on coming with you. Unless you wouldn't want me too…" He did want to go with her; otherwise, he'd be alone on this alien planet. That thought just made him feel really lonely.

_'Do my ears deceive me? He wants to come.'_ She celebrated in her head. "Well heck yes, I want you to come!" Charlotte yelled as she extended her arms into the air. She earned a small smile from Optimus, he looked relieved. She lowered her head, looking up, returning the smile.

She then started fixing herself up and getting ready for the day. While she was doing that, Optimus started standing up, slowly. He almost fell over, so he needed to use the wall for support. _'Wow, dizzy …' _he thought_. _It was gonna be one of those days because he was definitely sore. He obviously wasn't as fixed up as he thought. He shuttered his optics and slightly grinded his teeth while he slowly inched his way up to his full height. While he registered the pain, he suddenly felt something touch his leg. He onlined his optics and looked down to see Charlotte. She had laid her hands on his leg in a comforting manner. Her touch seemed to make the pain go away.

"Thank you, Charlotte."

"Anytime Optimus," Charlotte winked at the Prime. The leader of the autobots then knelt down, carefully so that he wouldn't hurt himself again, and extended his good hand to the human with his palm up.

"Need a ride?" Optimus asked, and then he mimicked her by winking back. Charlotte laughed, for him being a robotic alien; he sure had the personality of a human.

"Yeppers, thanks man…" Charlotte climbed into his waiting hand. Once she was comfortable and secure, Optimus slowly rose. He decided since there was no rain or wind, Charlotte could ride on his shoulder. He placed her there and she let her legs swing off of him. She pulled out Leonardo so they could listen to some music. While the hazel eyed teen did this, Optimus started walking in the direction that he had picked up the human signals.

"Let's get going."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Autobot Headquarters (Iacon)<strong>_

The place was buzzing with autobot soldiers. The recent battle had caused a lot of confusion. Some bots were rushing to the emergency room, while others were giving status reports. The bots were organized, but that could soon change because Optimus Prime, their fearless leader, was presently missing. And their Second-in-Command wasn't all too happy with his new position…

"How is it that we're probably the most advanced species in the universe and we can't do the simple task of finding our leader?!" Ironhide bellowed as he slammed his fist into a nearby wall. Autobots flung themselves out of his way when he entered the command center. They didn't want to be road kill.

"Calm down, Hide, we'll find him. For now, stop scaring Optimus' troops slagless." Chromia said as she sped up her pace so she could keep up with Ironhide's brisk pace. She needed to calm her crazy mate before some unlucky mech got his head blown off! The pair went to the center of the room, the place where Optimus usually stood. Behind the half-moon counter, Ironhide couldn't help but feel out of place. _'That little brat Optimus should be here, not me!'_ He thought. Just then Landmine walked in.

"Landmine, there better be good news on Optimus." Ironhide slightly growled. He didn't think he could handle much more bad news.

"Well then, I better keep my mouth shut," was Landmine's sheepish reply.

"That's just prime…" Ironhide mumbled as Jetfire and Jazz walked into the command center. They both went straight to Ironhide. They saluted to him and Chromia. The couple did the same to them. Jazz was the first to speak.

"Hey boss, wow tha' sounds weird calling ya tha', anyways here is some more info 'bout the big O." Jazz handed Ironhide a data pad. The 'new' leader took it and read through it quickly. Ironhide sighed and gave the data pad to Chromia. There wasn't any new information on it.

"Ironhoide, tha trewps are wondain wha we 'ave on Optoimus. When an' _wha_ are ya goin ta tell 'em, mate?" asked Jetfire in his heavy accent. "They be gettin mighty cranky out thera. They be wantin an' answah." Ironhide was quiet for a few seconds. He knew how to take command temporarily, but now all of his decisions were going to effect the autobots in the long run. He was good under pressure, but this was still unknown territory for him. He reached out to Chromia through their sparkbond seeking comfort. She returned the feeling by grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. It was soothing.

But then she suddenly squeezed, hard! [Hurry up!] Chromia told him through their bond, she wasn't going to take it easy on her mate. _'Good feeling gone,'_ Ironhide thought. He was lucky she didn't smack him. He turned to Scattershot who was in charge of the main control screen.

"Scattershot, connect me to all the communications. I need to make an announcement."

"Yes Sir!" Scattershot nodded. He pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of him, connecting Ironhide to all the autobots. While he was doing that, Chromia cleaned up Ironhide a little bit to make him more presentable. He still had a lot of battle residue on him. All the screens in the autobot's HQ suddenly turned on, projecting their new leader. All the autobots stopped what they were doing so they could listen. Ironhide's gruff voice was heard all throughout Iacon.

"Autobots I'm gonna need yur attention; I'm sure y'all are aware that Optimus Prime is missing. But some of our boys were able to find out that Megatron is also missing. While Optimus is gone, I will assume all of his responsibilities. No one is sure exactly what happened to the leaders. The only thing we are positive of are that Optimus and Megatron have gone through some sort of Space Bridge. Yes I know, Space Bridge technology hasn't been used since the beginning of the war, but that is the only logical explanation. The leaders' current location is still unknown. We have no ways of communications with either of them. And just because Megatron is gone, doesn't mean that the Cons are leaderless. They got Starscream. We will have to fight off the decepticons from taking Cybertron, while searching for Optimus. Whatever happens though, we can't give up. We gotta stick together. And autobots, we better pray that we find Optimus before the decepticons… Ironhide out"

The screens turned off. The remaining autobots processed the information and accepted Ironhide as their new leader. They then continued with their duties. Back in the command center, Chromia went over to Ironhide and nailed a good one on his shoulder. .

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Chromia smiled as she hit Ironhide. He gave her a face and rubbed where she hit him, acting like it hurt. Her punch left a nice little dent though. _'Ratch is gonna have a field day with that one,'_ Ironhide thought.

"Tew roight, so stop grizzleing, mate. Thera won't be iny choas whoile you in chirge. Besoides, Optoimus didn't mean ta be shootin' through, any'ow," Jetfire pointed out.

"Yeah I guess that's true, but I'm definitely not as formal with the speeches as he is. But hey, I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that Optimus is doing everything in his power to get back to us."

* * *

><p>Back on Earth, Optimus was thinking of ways to get back to Cybertron. It just seemed like too many distractions kept coming up. He and Charlotte were on their return journey and Leo was playing a song that they were enjoying.<p>

_The sun goes down, the stars come out,_

_And all that counts, is here and now,_

_My universe will never be the same, _

_I'm glad you came, I'm glad you came…_

The bridge part of the song started. "Optimus, I'm so glad you came. This is great!" Charlotte said after she was done singing along with the lyrics. She was standing and holding onto the side of Optimus' helmet for balance.

Optimus smiled, "I am glad that you came and found me. Thanks to you, _my _universe will never be the same." He truly meant what he said. Charlotte laughed; Optimus twisted the lyrics to song. He had a good sense of humor alright. The bridge of the song ended, and Optimus had an idea. He didn't have to act like a Prime since there were no autobots round, so wanting to surprise Charlotte, he started to sing the song.

_You cast a spell on me, spell on me,_

_You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me,_

_And I decided you look well on me, well on me_

Charlotte was in total shock for a few seconds, but she wasn't going to complain. She sang along with him.

_So let's go somewhere no-one else can see you and me_

_Turn the lights out now,_

_Now I'll take you by the hand, _

_Hand you another drink, drink it if you can_

_Can you spend a little time? _

_Time is slipping away, away from us so stay, _

_Stay with me I can make, make you glad you came_

The two newly acquainted friends continued to sing the rest of the song. Charlotte thought it was kinda weird how some parts of the song fit really well with her time with the alien. When the song ended, Charlotte had a few questions for Optimus.

"Okay, how is it that you're an alien, yet you knew every word to that song? It's not like you heard it before, ya know?" something just didn't add up.

"I downloaded the words from the world wide web. I'm a robot, I can do that."

"Okay, okay whatever Mr. robot-o." So, it looked like Optimus had a few tricks up his metal sleeves. This shall be interesting.

Optimus and Charlotte continued like this for an hour and a half. During the return journey, Optimus was able to learn a lot about Charlotte. Her father's name was Robert Ire; he was a cop. Her mother's name was Anna Ire, and she worked for the government. Charlotte also had an older brother named Tony; he was sixteen and he worked at KFC. Charlotte Ire was the baby in the family. She was thirteen, but could act very mature for her age when she needed too. She had showed Optimus pictures of her family on Leo. Her family was on their traditional camping trip that always took place a week before school started. Except this year, Charlotte got lost and found an alien.

"Finding an alien usually isn't on the activities list, just so ya know." Charlotte said. _'Though that could change,'_ she thought optimistically, smiling to herself.

"And neither is getting lost from now on, got it?" That was all Optimus needed, her getting lost every time she went camping.

"Hey now, that was an accident. Besides, enough about me, I wanna hear about you! You're the one from outer space with the military experience. Spill the beans!"

"What? Spill the beans?" She's not making any sense.

"It's a figure of speech; you'll begin to understand the longer you stay. But it pretty much means tell me everything and don't leave anything out." She forgot he wasn't from around here, _oops_.

"Why couldn't you have just said that in the first place? It's simpler and more understandable. It also just makes a lot more sense."

"It's shorter and plain…wait a minute. Stop changing the subject!" Charlotte just saw that Optimus could be a little trickster if he really wanted to. Her face must have showed it too because Optimus just started laughing at her. Charlotte had to get a better grip on his helmet because of him laughing. When Optimus felt her grip tighten, his laugh faded. He forgot how fragile she was.

"Oops, sorry my bad," Optimus apologized.

"It's cool; you're not used to someone being on ya." She sat down on his shoulder again, letting her legs swing off the edge. "Sssooo, you never told me anything about you." Charlotte said to break the silence, "other than the war and your body guard, anyways."

Optimus turned his head slightly towards her, and then he looked straight again. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"You know, maybe stuff about your family and things like that just to get things started. Hey, maybe even…" She stopped mid-sentence. She heard someone call her far off. Optimus stopped walking. He sensed humans, but they were a safe distance away. He was picking up multiple life signals too. Apparently, Charlotte's parents had a whole search party looking for her. Optimus scanned the humans to see if he could find one of Charlotte's family members. He found her father within their ranks. He was leading the search party for his lost daughter.

"Charlotte, your father is among those humans. He is looking for you. It is time that you return to him." Optimus said in a low voice. He didn't want to be heard. He then gently picked up Charlotte in his powerful hand. She looked up at him with sad eyes. Optimus knelt down, and he put his small friend on the forest floor. "So, I guess this is goodbye." She could hear the sadness in the Prime's voice.

Charlotte didn't want to say bye. Who would? She thought about it for a while, and then she had an idea. "It doesn't have to be." She said with a sudden triumphant smile on her face.

"Do explain." Optimus couldn't help but wonder where she was going with this. She told him her 'genius' plan, as she put it, and he thought it could work. He just needed to follow up on his part of the plan…

"I'll see you later, Optimus." Charlotte winked. She was about to leave, but she changed her mind and went over to where Optimus was kneeling. She had originally planned to punch him and say, "And don't be late," but it didn't work out that way. She went over to him, and punched him on the shin. But instead of saying what she wanted to say, she yelled "OWIE!"

Optimus just smiled and shook his head. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by someone shouting "I heard something over there!" the search party was heading their way and fast. Optimus stood up quickly, but he growled in pain as he did so.

"Be careful Optimus, don't be hurting yourself." Charlotte advised.

"Likewise," Optimus said, indicating the hand she used to punch him. "I need to go; I'll be seeing you later." He then took off in the other direction as silent as a lion stalking its prey. He went to go find a form that he could use to disguise himself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Optimus' Crash Site<strong>_

Two hours after Optimus and Charlotte left their shelter, the site where Optimus crashed was drowning with humans. People ranging from scientists to military officials surrounded the crater he made. When NASA detected two UFO's outside of one of Saturn's moons, the government and scientists went berserk. And now, they were at the crash site looking for evidence from their alien visitor.

"Sir, what we have here is definitely alien, and it's massive. The biggest we have ever documented. We can tell because of the foot prints that it left behind. And Sir, the alien is injured. We found that strange liquid next to some of its footsteps. It's bleeding. The crater has some of it too." one of the scientists reported to the man in charge.

"Perfect. If it's wounded, then it will be easier to catch. Follow its tracks, find it." The 'Boss' man said with a small smile forming. This alien will be his.

* * *

><p><strong>The song, "Glad You Came" belongs to the band, The Wanted. I do not own it whats so ever.<strong>

Also, Jetfire can be a little hard to understand sometimes, it is just his accent he has in the TF Cybertron series, but here is a little word key thing to help you out.

Grizzle = complain

Shootin' through = leave, take off

The rest I think was pretty self-explanatory.


	6. Chapter 6: The Plan

**Chapter Six: The Plan**

Charlotte watched Optimus leave. She waited until she couldn't see him anymore to go find her father. She started walking in the direction that she heard people. She soon found her very own search party. A man broke away from the group and embraced her.

"Charlotte, my God, I thought I'd never see you again. What were you thinking? Are you okay? No cuts or bruises or anything?"

"I'm okay Dad, really." Charlotte was getting crushed by her father's bear hug.

"That's great, but what happened? We didn't hear from you for hours, and then it was getting dark and still no word." Charlotte's dad pulled away and held her shoulders firmly. He looked her straight in the eye and said sternly, "You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady. And don't think you won't go unpunished."

Charlotte agreed with her father. Word spread that she was found and the other search parties were called off. Charlotte returned to her camp with her father where she was tackled by her mother.

"Charlotte, oh Charlotte, my baby." Her mother kept repeating with tears fresh in her eyes.

"Chocking…not…breathing," Charlotte pretended to be chocking. Her mother gave her a playful slap on the cheek. Anna let her daughter go. Tony then walked up and gave his little sister a nugie.

"Hey where've ya been, shorty?" Tony was glad that his sister was safe and sound with them again; he just liked messing with her.

"Tony, stop! You're messing up my hair!" Charlotte yelled while trying to get out of her brother's trap.

"Girls…" Tony muttered, but he let her go. Now that the Ire family reunion was over, Anna and Robert wanted answers.

"Now what exactly happened, Charlotte? Did you get lost or you just plain wanted to give us all heart attacks?" Robert asked.

"Um…" Charlotte thought that she better not mention Optimus to her parents, so she was going to have to twist the truth. "I took a hike, like how I usually do at home, and just kept on going nonstop. I was listening to Leo so I was kinda in my own little world. I didn't realize that I was lost until it was too late. And personally, I didn't want to hike around in the dark. I'm sorry."

Her father sighed. "Charlotte, this place isn't our backyard. I know this might have confused you because our backyard looks just like this forest, but something really bad could have happened to you."

"How did you survive the night? I mean, not only was it cold, but it also rained." Tony wanted to know.

_Oh no_, Charlotte thought. "I…a…" _think girl think_ "I found a little cave. And I just curled up and stayed warm." _Yeah, that should work_, she thought. "And then when I woke up this morning, I came this way."

"How did you know to come our way?" her mom asked.

"I tried backtracking…" _Oh I don't know, a good natured alien said you guys were this way, you know_.

"And you couldn't do that yesterday when you noticed you were lost?" Her dad pointed out.

"I didn't notice until it got dark." Charlotte tried innocently. Their conversation continued for several more long minutes. In the end, her family was just glad she was safe and back in their loving arms. But Charlotte was grounded and they took Leo away from her for a week. She'd never died before, but it felt like death without him.

Down the road from Charlotte's camp, Optimus was trying to find a disguise for himself. It wouldn't be that hard because of all the vehicles in the area. When Charlotte went missing, her dad called EVERYONE! There were police cars, helicopters, fire trucks, motorcycles of all types, ambulances, and a bunch of vans with rescue equipment. So, in a way, Optimus was shopping for a new look. He found a particular vehicle that he was very interested in. He scanned it and transformed.

Charlotte was pacing back and forth. Her family was about to leave and she was supposed to have met up with Optimus by now. Optimus said he would find a disguise so he could easily blend in with the humans. She probably should have asked him what he was supposed to look like because now he blended in too well; she couldn't even find him.

"Charlotte, time to go," her mother yelled from the truck which was up the road.

"Just a minute, mama…" _Come on Optimus! Where are you?_ Charlotte thought, as she looked around. Just then, a huge fire truck, with a lot of dents in it, parked right in her line of vision. _Oh, that's just great!_ She thought. She went to stand next to the damaged fire engine so she could look around it for Optimus. While she was standing next to it, she almost jumped out of her skin. The dented fire truck started talking to her in a very familiar voice.

"So Charlotte, you think this is a good disguise? I think it is because _you_ fell for it." Optimus said with much humor in his voice.

"Ha ha, very funny," Charlotte sarcastically remarked after she recovered from her shock. "Anyways, back to the plan. That's the truck that I'm going to be in, so follow that one at a distance. Don't make it obvious that you're following us." Charlotte said as she pointed at the truck that her mother was in.

"Don't worry; you won't be able to see me. Tracking a human vehicle is easy compared to what I usually track." Optimus replied. It sounded like he was still trying to hold back laughter, to Charlotte though. She rolled her eyes, but then Optimus got serious.

"Are you sure that your backyard can conceal me? I don't want to raise human suspicion."

"Don't worry Optimus; my backyard is the perfect place to hide a giant, alien robot. Though I'm not 100% sure because I've never had to hide one before, so you know." Charlotte shrugged.

"Well I would hope not…" Optimus mumbled. He still wasn't convinced.

"Optimus, it's the perfect place. No one goes into that forest, except me. And besides, my closest neighbors are miles away. Hardly anyone comes to my house anyways. No humans are gonna know you're there. Trust me." Optimus couldn't deny the smile she gave him. He couldn't help but trust her either.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron - Decepticon Headquarters (Kaon)<strong>_

Unlike the autobot's SIC, the decepticon's SIC was all too happy to take command. And Blackout, who was alone in the command center, knew he was going to have his work cut out for him with Starscream being in charge. Luckily for him, he would have Soundwave backing him up. Yeah, he never heard the bot actually say something, but he had a strange, yet powerful, way of getting things done. So he won't complain.

Speaking of Soundwave, his dark form just walked in. Soundwave scanned the room and noticed Blackout. The masked bot gave Blackout a silent nod. He returned the gesture. Soundwave then looked around the room again, and tilted his head a little in question, showing a picture of Starscream on his face mask.

"He's not in here." Blackout stated. Soundwave gave another nod and left as silently as he came.

"Faceless bots are creepy." Blackout said to no one in particular. But then, he felt something brush his leg. He looked down to find his precious creation, Scorponok. Blackout's spark warmed at the site of him.

"Hey Nok, I was just about to go wake you." Blackout picked up his pet with much care and started stroking Scorponok. Nok made a deep rumbling noise somewhere in his throat. Blackout let a small smile form on his lips. But he quickly wiped it off when he heard the door open again. He put Scorponok down and turned to see who came in, and frowned. "Nice of you to finally show up, where have you been?"

Starscream could hear the irritation in Blackout's voice. "That's none of your business, Blackout. Besides, that's not the tone you should use towards your leader." Starscream practically purred the word 'leader'. Blackout rolled his optics. Starscream growled in response. The two decepticons just gave death glares at each other. Their little stare down would've lasted longer if Barricade hadn't come in and interrupted.

"Blackout, you're needed at quadrant four. Autobot activity showing…oh, am I interrupting?" Barricade asked openly.

"No, Blackout was just leaving. So, get out! And take your toy with you!" When Starscream said 'toy', he meant Scorponok, who in turn growled at Starscream. But Blackout called him, and Scorponok returned to the carrier on Blackout's back.

Before Barricade and Blackout left, Blackout turned to Starscream with flashing red optics and said, "Don't forget, Starscream, to be looking for Lord Megatron." After that, the cons left; leaving Starscream alone with his thoughts.

Starscream had no intention of finding Megatron. But he couldn't let Megatron's most loyal followers know that it was him who got rid of the leaders. Soundwave was most likely already looking into it, so he needed to work fast to cover his tracks.

* * *

><p>Optimus had been following Charlotte for a few hours now. And in those few hours, he had a lot to think about. He thought mostly about the past but only a little about his childhood because it still hurt. He thought of all his responsibilities that he could no longer carry out. He felt bad for just leaving his autobots. He would be on Earth with nothing to do, while they fought the war, without him…<p>

_**HONK! HONK! **_

"Woah, what?" Optimus was too deep into his thoughts to realize he was going 20 below the speed limit. He was holding up traffic. "Oops, sorry," He sped up his pace. Optimus mumbled, "Grouchy humans."

He then decided to learn more about humans and their laws on the rather useful World Wide Web. During his examination, his thoughts kept on returning to the war. _Stop it; think of something better, happier._ He thought of Charlotte and her energetic ways. _At least_ _I won't get bored with her around._

Charlotte finally arrived at her house. She rushed her family into unpacking all the camping gear and helped out way more than usual. Her parents exchanged confused looks, but didn't complain. Once everything was unloaded, she literally pushed and shoved her family inside the house.

"You guys stay inside, okay. I'll rake the yard, sweep the back porch, and all that good stuff for you guys. Just count it as part of my apology for wandering off in that forest. Now stay inside, I want it to be a surprise." Charlotte was desperately trying to keep her family inside so they wouldn't see Optimus. They agreed to stay inside. Tony lived like a vampire when he played X-box in his room with all the blinds shut. Her parents wanted to relax, so they looked themselves in their room, away from their loud kids, and ended up watching a bunch of old school movies. They wouldn't see anything.

Charlotte sat in the middle of her front yard waiting for Optimus. After a few minutes, the disguised alien decided to reveal itself. He drove right into the yard and parked in front of the sitting human.

"Now what?" asked Optimus.

"Really? That's the first thing you say to me after a two and a half hour drive? Not a 'hello' or a 'what's up' or something. Man, we need to work on your people skills." Charlotte was shaking her head as she stood up. "Come on, follow me." She walked to the backyard and Optimus followed her silently in his vehicle form.

The Ire family's backyard wasn't the usual backyard that had a fence around it and maybe a pool in it. No, they had a porch, some yard space that had a picnic table in it, and then it was complete wild forest.

At the edge of the forest, Charlotte turned to Optimus and said, "In we go. But you might wanna go robot mode because it's gonna be hard to drive in there." Optimus complied and transformed. Charlotte just stared in awe as she watched the first transformation in her life. It was something she had never seen before and Optimus made it look awesome.

When Optimus' transformation was complete, Charlotte heard him hiss in pain. She totally forgot he was in serious pain. "You wanna take a quick break? You must be tired from all that driving and walking from earlier."

"No, we go forward," was the Prime's reply. _Tough guy_, Charlotte thought.

"Okay, we will. But one quick question. When you transform, does it usually hurt, or is it because of your injuries?"

"It usually is as painless as breathing."

"Got it, let's go!" She ran into the forest knowing that Optimus could easily keep up. Her light run was his walk. It was almost pitiful. They continued that pace for a while, Charlotte jumping over things, Optimus ducking under things. They got pretty deep into the forest before Charlotte slowed her pace.

She stopped at a part in the forest where the tree tops were thick with leaves and pines. The trees were spread far enough for Optimus to easily slip through them. In this heavily shaded place, there were little rock beds here and there. The plant life in this part was beautiful and there was even a small creak nearby. This place had enough tree cover that satellites from above, or even planes, wouldn't be able to see or detect him.

"I usually come here when I need to get away. I think this is a good spot for a guy your size." Charlotte thought about her words and quickly turned franticly back at Optimus saying, "I'm not calling you fat!" To her surprise, the leader just laughed.

"Ah, Charlotte, you have a lot of growing up to do." Optimus said while his laughter was dying down.

"What kind of advice is that?"

"Take it however you like. It has multiple meanings."

"I see, well I'll definitely think about what you said. But, is this a good spot for you?"

Optimus surveyed the area. He was far enough that people wouldn't easily come by, it was close enough for Charlotte to make plenty of visits, and it was big enough for several bots to move around. He couldn't see any bad sides to this spot. He also could easily keep a vigilant watch on Charlotte's house.

"It'll do just fine, thank you Charlotte." Optimus said as he looked down at her.

"Well, I gotta get back. I volunteered to do a bunch of chores and now I gotta go do them. I'll see if I can come back later today, if not, for sure tomorrow." She punched his leg again, forgetting what happened the last time she did that. "Make yourself at home." She was rubbing her hand as she left.

Charlotte wasn't able to come back that day, but Optimus didn't mind. He was able to make his temporary home a little more comfortable. He made an A-frame shelter with a bed that was made of leaves. He even made rock furniture, which wasn't very comfortable, but it was something to sit on other than the floor. If he ever got dirty, he had his own little creak to wash himself. He could live with his injuries, but he wasn't sure how long he could go without energon.

He didn't want to think about it; instead he hacked into the nearest satellite. He needed to get a message out to his autobots. He embedded a Cybertronian message into the satellite data. Because of his advanced technology, the humans wouldn't be able to detect his message.

"Please, let this work." Optimus silently prayed. But in the back of his mind, he knew that the signal was too weak. His race wouldn't get the message, but if they did, it wouldn't be for a long time.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Elsewhere<strong>_

On Jupiter's most volcanic moon, Lo, there sat a very damaged Decepticon leader. Optimus had inflicted serious damage on Megatron, and the lava that was slowly engulfing him wasn't helping. He was lucky to be wearing the self-regenerating armor of Unicron, but it was burning his already painful body. So when he woke up, he wasn't a happy camper…at all.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The enraged Megatron roared to the stars. He was grinding his fangs as he tried clawing his way out of the lava. One of Megatron's turquoise optics was cracked, but they both were burning with fury towards Optimus. His mouth was bleeding, but he still managed to say, "I will crush your spark Optimus Prime." He spat the name.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, it sucks to be Megatron right now, 'ol well. Review please!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Adjusting

**Chapter Seven: Adjusting **

It has been a little over a week since Optimus had landed on Earth, and things had been, well, in a word, interesting. Charlotte was usually a good host, being how she could always get her guests what they wanted, but having Optimus as a guest was different. She couldn't exactly show him where the bathroom was or bring him food when he was hungry. Her first aid kit was even useless. Managing a puppy was easier than managing him, she thought. She could at least get the puppy what it needed; he was another story. But now, school was starting for Charlotte, and she was worried for Optimus. She was his only visitor and with her always at school, he'd be freakishly lonely. But Optimus had other plans…

"Instead of you taking the bus every day, how about I just drive you to school. I could use the exercise, plus I need to get out more."

Charlotte was hanging out at his place, which was his base pretty much, when she told him about the school problem. She thought about what he said. Riding in him would be a lot more fun than dealing with a bunch of unstable teenagers in a smelly bus. "Yeah, okay. Besides, it looks like you've gained a few pounds." She then mumbled "fatty" under her breath.

"I heard that!" the Prime exclaimed.

"You didn't hear nothing!" the little girl said as she crossed her arms.

"That's a double negative…"

"Whatever smarty pants!"

"I don't have pants."

"Change Subject!"

And so their friendship grew.

Then, school started. Charlotte didn't have to explain to her parents about her new ride because they usually left for work before she even got up and ready for school. Her brother always got a ride from his friends so he couldn't really care how she got to school, as long as she went and didn't ditch.

The first day of school for Charlotte was on a Wednesday. She got up and got ready. She wore a white shirt that had patriotic angel wings on the back and dark blue skinny jeans with red vans. She wore her wavy, light brown hair down for the day. Her hair reached to the middle of her back. While she was eating breakfast, her brother left.

"Later kiddo! Have fun on your first day back, and try not to break any boy's heart."

"No promises. Bye Tony." She laughed as she waved at him. As soon as he was gone, she called for Optimus from the front yard. The guy had really good hearing, so he was always within ear shot of her. He could even hear her when she was in her room and he was at his little place in the woods. "Optimus! It's all clear!" her voice echoed. She waited for a few seconds, and then she saw the autobot's form approaching.

She said, "Morning," when he was a few yards away. "You can wait out here until I'm done. Just gotta finish my breakfast and get Leo off the charger. Feel free to look around since you haven't got a good look yet." She winked and went back into the house, but on her way in she tripped. She acted like nothing happened and she didn't see the smile formed on Optimus' face. She wasn't grounded anymore, so she got Leo back.

Optimus decided to look around. The house was surrounded by the forest on all sides except for the front. He took notice of spots where he could hide in case he needed to be close. He also got more accurate scans of the place. He could walk around comfortably outside the house, for the most part anyways. The house itself was a two-story and it had a porch in the front and back. On the second story, there was a balcony that was supported by pillars decorated with vines. There was even a tire swing in the backyard. It looked like a good place to grow up. It was **way** different than his childhood environment.

Once he was done, he cautiously got down on his hands and knees, making sure not to hurt himself, and peered inside the house through the windows. "Cozy, a lot better than my place…" Optimus said to himself. Then Optimus saw Charlotte in the house. She hadn't seen him yet because her back was turned. She was grabbing her backpack and heading his way.

"Geez!" She jumped when she saw a big glowing gold optic looking at her through her living room window. "Wow, you scared me man." She sighed, "I'm officially awake." Now she saw Optimus smiling outside. "That was not cool." Charlotte said as she locked up the house and started heading for the street.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so jumpy." Optimus said as he followed her with a smirk on his face. She didn't notice his limp.

"I'm not jumpy. I just wasn't expecting to see a big 'ol honking eye looking at me." She stopped at the sidewalk. "Now are you gonna go car mode or am I walking?" She was smiling as she was talking to him, so she wasn't really upset.

Optimus answered by transforming into his fire truck form. As he opened his door he said, "My bad little lady," in a southern accent. It was going to be one of those car rides…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Autobot Med Bay<strong>_

Growling…

"Stop growling Ironhide."

"Well it hurts, Ratchet. You could be a little nicer with that thing."

"Wow, the tough Ironhide wants me to be gentle. This is truly a historic moment." Ratchet mocked; he was just asking Ironhide to hit him. "I bet Optimus wouldn't complain. He'd tough it out like any other mech."

"I get it Ratchet! I'll stop complaining." Ironhide growled. He was getting repairs from a recent ambush from the decepticons. He was outnumbered and they didn't hold anything back, not that he wanted them to.

"You know what Optimus would say if he was here right now?" Ratchet asked, even though he knew Ironhide already knew the answer. He then popped Ironhide's shoulder back into place, earning himself a loud growl from his patient.

"Yeah," Ironhide hissed, "he would say," he grunted, "you have a lot of growing up to do." He paused, catching his breath, and then he continued. "He would mean that I'm too old to be grumbling, and that I need to set an example for the other troops."

Ratchet just had a sad smile on his face. He knew Ironhide missed Optimus and that he was uncomfortable with leading the autobots, but he was good at it. Ratchet wasn't going to deny that he missed Optimus too. It was like Ironhide read his thoughts because of what he said next.

"When we first met the kid, neither of us knew how much he'd grow on us huh." Ratchet looked up at Ironhide to see him looking at something behind him. Ironhide was looking at Optimus' old, beat up weapon that he had with him when they first met the kid.

Ratchet just replied with a sad, "yeah…" Ironhide then chuckled.

"Now who has a lot of growing up to do?"

"Be quiet, only Optimus can say that and get away with it." The two veterans had a light laugh before they had to go back to their harsh reality. Little did they know, things were going to get worst for them.

* * *

><p>The drive to Charlotte's school took 25 minutes, but since it was her first time inside the autobot leader, it seemed shorter.<p>

"We're here already? That was fast. Did you go the speed limit?"

The Prime laughed, "Yeah, I did smart one. Now where am I dropping you off?" Charlotte indicated across the street from her school. It would look weird if she was dropped off in a fire truck instead of a police car. Actually, either one would look weird…

"I'll see you after school. Don't go anywhere, just stay in this general area. All we need is for you to be on the news. Bye!" Charlotte ran to school. Optimus just stayed parked on the other side of the school for the whole day. But he wasn't just sitting around wasting time; he decided to take this opportunity to learn more about humans in their natural habitat.

He realized that humans and cybertronians had a lot in common. The way the humans were acting was similar to how Cybertron was during the Golden Age, when there was no war waging the planet. Bots were going to work, taking care of their children, going to parties. They were just living life during a time of peace. It was something Optimus wanted for his people to have again.

When school was over, Optimus took Charlotte home. No one was home, so Optimus stayed in the backyard instead of going straight to his sad excuse of HQ. When Charlotte got in the house, she went straight for the kitchen. She came out later with a tub of ice cream and a spoon and sat on the back porch.

"Who's the fatty now?" Optimus said from his sitting position across the yard.

"Oh shut it, I'm hungry." She was going to give him a face, but then it struck her that he didn't have any food. And he had been here for a little over a week! "I'm sorry, you're probably hungry too. Um, is there anything I can get you?"

"No." He knew she wanted to help. She was obviously bummed out about it. He thought it wise to change the subject. "Anything interesting happen today?"

"Nope, just the same old for a first day…hey, wanna go do something?" She put the ice cream down and got up.

"Sure," that sounded like something better to do anyways, he thought. Charlotte walked over to the tire swing and got in it. Optimus' sitting position was starting to hurt his body so instead he laid down on his front next to the tire swing that Charlotte was in. He rested his head on his bad arm, but with the other he pushed the swing that Charlotte was in. His bottom half was in the woods, but he was nevertheless comfortable.

"Thanks, I don't even remember the last time someone was pushing me on this swing." She moved her hair out of her face and then got more comfortable to enjoy the ride. "Ssssoooo, you still never told me about you or tu familia."

The Prime was caught off guard, something that rarely happened, by his small friend's innocent question. He did not like talking about his personal life. He hadn't ever talked about his personal life now that he thought about it, not even with Alpha Trion or his most trusted friend, Ironhide.

"I'd rather not." Awkward silence… "Isn't your birthday coming up?" _change subject, change subject, change subject, _Optimus thought.

"Yeah, the big one-four, it's in a couple of weeks. How'd you know?"

"One can find loads of information on the internet. Plus, I overheard your parents talking about it. Do you know what you want?"

"You have no idea how many times I have been asked that," Charlotte covered her face with her hands. She then slowly pulled her skin down making her eyes look funny. "But I don't know, I always tell people to surprise me, and just get me something that you think I would like, ya know?" She turned her head to look at him. He wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that his eyes had a distant look to them. She thought he must be thinking about something. "Earth to Optimus Prime…" she said while she waved one of her hands in front of his metallic face.

He looked back at her with an almost sad look. "I am on Earth." Just then, Optimus heard the sound of a vehicle approaching and turned his attention to the front yard where the car would be passing by. He slowly rose to his hands and knees and was in the process of standing when one of his legs gave out. He landed on his hands and knees right where he was originally lying down with a hard thud. He heard Charlotte cry something, but he was too dizzy to comprehend what she said. He was dangerously low on energon. He hadn't realized how much he burned it off. _It must have been all that driving I did today,_ Optimus thought.

Charlotte had been long out of the swing and was at his side. She was still saying something, but he was more concerned with the other human seeing him. In the end, the car just drove by the house. The driver would not have been able to see anything in the backyard. It was a close call, and it was something Optimus wasn't going to let happen again.

After a few moments, he wasn't as dizzy anymore. He turned and sat down with his knees up and his arms behind him, holding him up. Optimus looked to the ground looking for Charlotte. She was next to his waist, and now, he could understand her.

"Optimus, Optimus! Are you okay?! Oh geez, please tell me that you're alright! Optimus, you gotta be okay! Can you even hear me? Oh geez, oh geez, please, are you okay?!" Charlotte was freaking out! She was literally running around in circles and lightly knocking on him to get him to respond.

"I'm…" when she heard his voice she was instantly silent, "decent." She started breathing again; she hadn't noticed that she even stopped.

"You had me scared there, but I mean, are you really okay? What happened?" she was breathing a little hard still but she finally started to calm down.

"I'm just a little lightheaded. My body has been working double time to repair itself and its requiring energy that I do not have. I need to get back to base." He started trying to get up, but that didn't end to well.

"Well shouldn't you wait a little bit," Charlotte was very concerned for his health. For a quick second she thought she needed to tell her parents so they could help her help him on his road to recovery. But then she thought _what if they don't understand? And what if they hand him over to the government and they dissect him or something. _"Never mind big guy, you gotta push through this and get yourself home." She then started trying to help him up by pulling on his leg.

After several tries, Optimus finally stood up. He started for his base and was accompanied by Charlotte. She definitely noticed his limp now. When they finally arrived, Optimus went straight to his sheltered bed. He literally just fell into it and lay there very still. Charlotte crept into the shelter and sat crossed legged next to his face. His optics were still glowing, so she guessed that he was still awake.

"Tired?" she asked as she scooted over to lean against his shoulder. He angled his head so that he was looking at her and then nodded. "Then you should get some rest. I'll get a ride for school tomorrow from someone, so that you can sleep in. And when I get back, we will find a way to get you some of your strength back." He just blinked at her. "I'll take that as a 'sure'." She then relaxed and pulled out Leo. She went to one of her more chill playlist and clicked shuffle. _Siuil A Run_ by Orla Fallon came on. Not long after the song started, Optimus' optics started fading.

_He's asleep, or in recharge as he put it_, Charlotte thought. She let a few more songs play before she crawled out and started on her return journey. On her way back, she couldn't help but think that maybe trying to take care of an alien by herself was a too big a task. Heck, Elliot in the movie E.T. made it look easy. But then again, he did end up having some help. She sighed. _I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Secret Government Base<strong>_

The man in charge patiently waited at his desk. It had been some time since anything new about their 'visitor from the stars' had been reported. Just then, a researcher entered the room.

"Sir, there are no traces of the alien's whereabouts. The teams have been unable to track it since we lost its prints in Flagstaff." The researcher reported nervously.

"Explain to me how you lost it. It obviously left big tracks. How could you lose it?!"

"Its tracks just stopped at the road, Sir. And they never started back up again."

"People would have seen if it went out onto the road. Something just doesn't add up." He paused as he was thinking. "Track it with its blood. Put it in detectors and if it comes close to one of them, we'll know where it's at. Put them around the globe."

"Yes Sir!" he turned and left to carry out his orders.

"I will not lose this one too!"

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, they're creepy...Plz review!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8: New Life

**Chapter 8: New Life**

It had been several days and he still hadn't gotten up. He had just been lying there, thinking. He hadn't seen Charlotte since Wednesday, which was odd. He needed energon. Optimus finally turned over and lied on his back. His body groaned in the effort. While he rested there, he did something that he rarely did. He opened his chest compartments and pulled out the Matrix of Leadership. He held and observed it.

He needed help, and maybe the ancient Primes of the past could aid him. He decided he would journey into the matrix. He scanned the area for danger. He wouldn't be able to defend himself while his mind was within the matrix. "All clear, time to pay a little visit to the Primes that preceded me." Optimus felt himself leave his body, and into the matrix he went.

* * *

><p>Three days, that's how long it's been since she last checked up on him. She hadn't been able to get away from her family; something always had to come up. Now that the opportunity presented itself, she was taking it. She bolted for the back door. She was steps away and she could smell the forest outside, when she suddenly heard her mother's calm voice ask, "Now where do you think you're going so early in the morning?" <em>Why mom, why?!<em>

"To… to…um…to do whatever you wanted me to do my dear mother." Charlotte replied as she slowly turned to face her mom.

"Don't be a smart alec with me, where were you going?" Anna said with her arms crossed.

Defeated, Charlotte explained, "Okay, I was going outside to go," _what's a good way to put it?_ "exploring."

"Not before you eat breakfast and help me clean the house. Some of Tony's friends are coming over today and I want the house to look clean. Then you can go outside and do whatever you do."

Charlotte glanced at the door, _so close_, she thought. "Alright, let's get her done…"

* * *

><p>Optimus emerged from the matrix with a solution to his problem. He couldn't believe that all the energon and resources he needed was within walking distance from his base. Turns out, his kind had been on Earth before. Primes before him had stocked distant planets with energon and resources in case of emergencies. One reason was if one of their own was to become lost on one of those foreign worlds, that individual would be able to survive long enough until help arrived.<p>

Optimus forced himself to rise. He left his base in search for the much needed energon. He had gone a little over a mile when he found the shielded area. It was hidden with a cloaking device. _That could be useful_, he thought. He stepped through the barrier and found the energon, and a lot of it.

"Thank Primus," the Prime sighed in relief. "Well, as the humans say, Bottoms up."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Charlotte burst through the back door and fell to her knees screaming, "Freedom!" Back in the house, her mother walked past the door muttering to herself, "Drama Queen." She tore across her backyard and into the forest's waiting arms, or branches…<p>

She didn't slow her pace until she was fairly close to her destination. She stopped at the border of the clearing. Charlotte couldn't help but notice that the base looked significantly different. What once was Optimus' shelter was now an actual metal building, except without a door for some reason. There was another smaller structure close to his shelter, and that one did have what looked like a door. She also noticed that a good number of the trees had been cut down and the surrounding ones had some weird metal devices on them.

The changes didn't bother Charlotte; what worried her was that she had no idea where Optimus was. "Optimus!" she waited. "Optimus Prime, where are you!?" she yelled. When nothing changed she started to panic, and then she heard something crunch behind her. She spun around and saw Optimus, looking surprisingly well for a bot who was supposed to be sick.

"You called, Charlotte," he questioned. He looked like he had more color; he also didn't have as many dents as he used to. He looked clean and fresh.

Charlotte just looked up at him confused. The last time she saw him he could barely hold himself up. He was sick in bed. And now, he had stuff draped over his shoulders and he was holding a crate full of stuff, looking healthy as a horse. She just stared at him with her mouth open, while he looked around unsure of what was happening. She probably would have stared longer if a bee hadn't flown by her ear causing her to freak out, arms flying, and run into a tree.

Optimus tilted his head as he watched her fall to the ground. "Afraid of bees much?" he joked as a grin formed on his face.

"Ow," she picked herself off the ground. "No, I just hate the sound of them flying past me ears." She had the chills now. "Stupid bee…"

"Well it looked funny, as well as the little dance you just did before falling."

Charlotte stopped, and then laughed. She probably did look funny. Then her curiosity kicked in, "How are you feeling, because you look…pretty good." She paused for a moment to look him up and down. Well, mainly up seeing as how he was so much taller than her.

"I feel great." Optimus walked over her toward what looked like a table made of stone. There, he set what he was carrying on it. He turned and indicated for her to come over with a wave of his good hand. Once she was close enough, he knelt and she automatically climbed into his waiting hand. He stood up and then put her on the table. "You might want to sit down; I have a little story to tell." She sat down crossed legged in front of him.

He explained to her his discovery, with the help of the Primes of course, and how their secrets concealed the much needed energon along with a couple other things, such as equipment that could cloak the area.

"Is that the stuff on the trees?" she was signifying the metal stuff on the trees.

"That's one of the cloaking devices. Those are particularly for surrounding this area. They're not activated yet, or else you would have just seen endless forest instead of the base." He explained.

"A camouflage shield?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh cool, like in the movies!" the excitement was evident in her eyes and voice.

"That same shield also blocks energy signatures. Satellites will no longer be a problem. With this new found cloaking equipment, I was able to cut down the trees and make more space for myself. I now have a better shelter and a place to store my energon." _He must mean that other structure_, she thought. Another thought just came to her.

"So, how long will your energon reserve last?" What she really wanted to ask was how long he was going to stay…

"It will last a very long time. But even with this equipment, I still don't have enough power to reach the autobots. So whether you like it or not, I'm staying." The smile that formed on Charlotte's face was pure happiness. He returned the smile, as he always did.

* * *

><p><strong>A few weeks later…<strong>

It was the night before Charlotte's birthday, and Optimus still hadn't been able to get her a gift. He had an idea for a gift, but he wasn't sure if it was going to work. Optimus was sitting on his bed while he contemplated. He felt the Matrix pulse within him. "Well…it's worth a shot." He thought to himself.

He peered down at the little iPod in his hand. Charlotte had accidentally forgotten Leo in his shelter a few hours earlier. He normally would go to her house in the middle of the night and put it on the balcony where she would find it in the morning, but he needed the blue iPod for the night.

With his other hand, the Prime took out the Matrix. He looked at the iPod in one hand, then at the Matrix in the other. He slowly brought them together to merge them. The Matrix glowed blue, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then the iPod unexpectedly had little sparks of lightning engulf it. Optimus abruptly pulled the Matrix away from the sparking iPod. The iPod started vibrating in Optimus' hand, then it unbelievably transformed.

"It worked," the astonished Prime breathed.

At the sound of a voice, the newly born transformer looked around to find the owner of the voice he heard. When his optics rested on Optimus, he did a startled squeak and backed up. He nearly fell off the Prime's hand.

"Wow, easy there little guy. I'm not going to hurt you." Optimus assured the little robot. He brought the iPod closer to his face to get a good look at him. He had a light blue visor and a round helmet. He was mostly royal blue, but he had a few areas that were white or silver. He was about as big as a mayo jar.

"Who…who are you? And where am I?" The little bot asked shakily. The iPod then added as if it was an afterthought, "Who am I?"

"My name is Optimus Prime. You are at my base. Your name is Leonardo, but you also go by Leo." Optimus explained. Then he asked, "Do you, by chance, have any memories? Or are you starting with a clean slate?"

"I, um, I remember a girl." Leonardo finally said after a while of silence. "She was really nice, and she took good care of me."

"Her name is Charlotte. She is your owner."

"Charlotte…is she here!?" Leo jumped up and looked around excitedly.

"No, she is not." Optimus reported. He noticed the saddened expression that appeared on Leo's face. "But you will be able to meet her later."

Leo thought about it for a moment. "I feel like I already know her," he paused, "and I feel like I kinda know you too."

"That's good, because she sort of already has a connection with you. You seemed to always play the right song at the moment." Optimus brought Leonardo to optic level.

"Isn't her birthday tomorrow? I remember hearing that a lot recently." The little blue transformer asked.

"Yes, I planned on giving you to her as a gift."

"Wow…top that humans." The two mechanical beings shared a laugh. When their laughter subsided, Optimus told Leo some rules that he was going to have to follow in order to be around Charlotte. He told him how they were robots in disguise on Earth and that they couldn't reveal their true forms to anyone except Charlotte. He was to act like an iPod in public and only transform when they were alone. Leo understood all the rules. He also understood that Optimus was the one in charge and he was to listen to him.

"And Leo, could you do something for me? I try to do this myself, but my size prevents me from doing this to the best of my ability." The prime sounded disappointed in himself to Leo.

"Yeah, anything Sir," Leo replied curiously.

"I need you to watch and protect Charlotte. Yes, I can do it when she is riding in me and when we are in areas where I can transform. But I need you to protect her when I'm not there, such as when she is inside a building. An example would be her school. Bad stuff happens all the time, and I don't want her to get hurt." Optimus explained.

Leo didn't have to think about it. "I got you, Prime. I'll help protect her." Leo gave Optimus a thumbs up. He probably winked to, but Optimus couldn't tell because of the visor shielding Leo's optics.

* * *

><p>The next morning at 5:30 AM, Charlotte was woken up by her parents and brother singing happy birthday to her. They brought with them a chocolate cupcake with the number 14 frosted on it. The single candle on the cupcake was blown out by the birthday girl when the song ended.<p>

"Thanks guys for the wakeup call, I really enjoy being woken up so early." Charlotte yawned.

"You're welcome, baby sis." Tony responded. Still in his pajamas, he didn't even bother to fix his bed hair.

Her mother was the next to speak. "Sorry about that honey. Your dad and I have to go to work now, and we just wanted to say happy birthday to you before we left."

"After school and after we get off of work, we'll go to Olive Garden for dinner. Sound good?" her father asked.

"Yeah," Charlotte said as she yawned, "sounds good."

"Alright you two, for now get back to bed. And Tony, don't forget you are taking your sister to school today. We don't want her riding in a smelly bus on her birthday," Mr. Ire stated.

"Yeah…school bus…riiigghhhttt" was the last thing Charlotte mumbled before she fell back asleep.

When she got up and ready for school, Charlotte couldn't find Leo in her room. She went out to the balcony to see if she maybe left him at the base and Optimus had returned him. The iPod wasn't there. It was to the point where they were almost late for school because of her search for her little blue friend.

"Tony, it's gonna be a bad day! I can't find him!" Charlotte exclaimed in the car.

"Cheer up; it's not the end of the world. You'll find him when you get home. Then we gonna have a nice dinner, and then Bam! It's the weekend." Tony had a date that weekend, and he was looking forward to it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Charlotte sighed as she looked out the window. She smiled when she saw a familiar looking fire truck a few cars behind them.

Charlotte's day was full of 'Happy Birthdays' and balloons from her friends. Her best friends, Christine and Clarissa, decorated her locker like it was the Fourth of July. They got her friendship necklaces for the three of them and some art stuff, such as new drawing pencils and a new sketch book. She did end up having a good day. After school, Charlotte was surprised to see her parents picking her up. They told her that they got off early so they would have an early dinner.

Olive Garden was great. She got to order whatever she wanted and she had a pretty good dessert to go along with it. After dinner, they went as a family to the movie theaters to watch a movie of Charlotte's choice. When they got home later that night, everyone was dead tired, except Charlotte. Her parents went to bed, while Tony stayed up to play video games as usual.

Charlotte was in her room when she heard a light tap on her window. She looked over her shoulder and saw the bottom part of Optimus' face. She crossed her room with a few strides and opened the window. Optimus, as usual, skipped saying 'hi' and lifted his hand to the window. He did a motion with his head to 'come on'. Charlotte just raised her eyebrows, and then hopped into his head.

She waited until they were a good distance into the forest before she said anything. "Hey Optimus, what are you doing?" she whispered. She didn't think he had a gift for her, so what was he doing. _Maybe since he didn't get me anything, he feels bad, and he is bringing me to his place at night cause I've never been there at night before. Or maybe it's a sleepover!_ Charlotte thought to herself.

"I'm taking you to your birthday gift. I hope you like it." _Him_, he corrected in his head.

The surprises never end, "You didn't have to do that! The thought is very nice, don't get me wrong, but I'm sure you have other important stuff to do. Like trying to contact the autobots and get more energon, you know, that kind of stuff." She was hiding her excitement. _He actually got me something!_ She was doing a happy dance inside her head.

"Your birthday is important; do not think it's not." They arrived at their destination. He dropped her off at the stone table. He told her, "Close your eyes." She did. And after a few moments, Optimus said, "Open."

Charlotte opened her eyes and saw that Optimus had his hand outstretched toward her. She didn't at first see her iPod in his hand. But when she did see it, she tilted her head in confusion. "My iPod?" she asked questionably.

"Wait for it," was his response.

As if on cue, the music player shook. Charlotte's eyes widened as Leo transformed. Her jaw dropped as she stared at him. He peered back at her. He then crossed his legs and scratched the back of his neck while looking down, slightly uncomfortable.

"Hi there," she managed to finally say.

Leo muttered a low, "Hi," back. "I'm Leonardo, but I also go by Leo. Remember, you named me?" he said a little louder.

She did a slow nod. She then reached out to touch him. "Can I hold you?" she asked politely.

"Yeah sure!" Leo practically jumped off of Optimus' hand and onto hers.

While those two got better acquainted, Optimus decided to busy himself straining up the place. It didn't take him long, so he pretended to be busy.

"So tell me about yourself. Like were you always alive? Do you really like music? Is that why you transform into an iPod? And was it you that took the last piece of cake a few nights ago?" she breathed. "Come on, talk," Charlotte drowned Leo in questions.

"Well I would if you gave me da chance." Leo said as he put his hands on his waist. "Geez woman, you act like you never seen a transformer before," Leo was laughing as he talked. He then started scratching his head again, "Where do I begin? For starters, no, I wasn't always alive. That happened last night. I happen to absolutely love music since I was born an iPod. And no, I didn't take the last piece of cake; I saw your father take it before he went to work that day."

Charlotte gasped, "He lied! I feel betrayed!" she put her free hand to her forehead. "I called dibs on it too." She pouted.

"But he was running late that morning, and he needed something to eat. One does not simply start thy day without eating." Leo defended. They were both silent, then they both started cracking up at the same time.

Their conversation would have gone on longer, but Optimus had to break it up. It was already late and they didn't need to stay up any longer. He cleared his throat, "I hate to break this up, but I have to get Charlotte back home before someone notices..."

Leo cut in, "Can I go with her back to the house? I'm not dogging your place or anything, it's just…"

Optimus interrupted him back, "It's fine by me. Just make sure Charlotte is okay with it."

"I'm sure Lotti is okay with it, aren't ya?" Leo winked.

"Yep, I sure am." Charlotte nodded.

_Earth nicknames, right_…the Prime thought. "Yep, you got a lot of growing up to do too Leonardo."

"What?" Leo asked, unsure of what Optimus meant.

Charlotte explained for the little guy. "It's just a saying Optimus likes to say. It's your job to figure out Optimus's advice."

Said Prime then scooped them both up and returned them home. When he got back to his base, he realized how quiet it was. With Leo around, there was never a moment like this. Optimus suddenly missed him. When Leo was around Optimus wasn't alone and had another bot to talk to. He took care of Leo. Optimus hadn't watched over a bot younger than him in a long while. His younger brother's face suddenly appeared in his mind and Optimus had to fight back tears.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you…" the Prime had a restless sleep that night.

* * *

><p><strong>New character! yay! Lil bit of da past revealed dun dun DUN!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9: Tragedy Avoided

**Thank you to all you faithful readers! You guys are da bomb! Stuff gonna be going down real soon :)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 9: Tragedy Avoided<strong>

3…2…1… "Charge!" Optimus accelerated forward at Leo and Charlotte's command. He easily pulled ahead of the other cars at the stop light.

"Moohahahah, we're in the lead!" Leo laughed evilly.

"All objects in the mirror are losing 'dis race! Go go go go!" Charlotte was bouncing up and down in the passenger seat of the fire truck; the seatbelt being the only thing really keeping her down. Then some cars passed in front of Optimus. "Hey, what's going on? We were winning, why'd you slow down?" She asked disappointed.

"They passed me because I am going the speed limit, while they are not." Optimus answered the young teenage girl.

"But…" she started.

"I am obeying the laws of the road. You out of all people should know the law, with your father being a police officer and all." He wisely stated. He used his turning signal and turned off the main road to a back road. Charlotte in response just crossed her arms and silently mumbled to herself. Leo, being the comedian that he is, decided to start playing the song "Bad Boys" by Inner Circle.

_Bad boys, bad boys _

_Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do _

_When they come for you _

_Bad boys, bad boys _

_Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do _

_When they come for you_

Charlotte shot Leo a look.

"What? It's your dad's theme song." Leo smiled innocently.

Charlotte just rolled her eyes and watched the many trees go by. She did this until Optimus pulled off onto a dirt road that led into the forest. He continued to drive on that road up until he hit a dead end. He stopped and waited for his passengers to get out. When they did, Charlotte went to the nearby outhouse and changed into running clothes. The barely 5-foot teen put her hair up into a ponytail and gave the now transformed Optimus her backpack.

"See ya at the house." She then started her light run into the forest towards her house with Leo playing in her ears. Optimus kept a steady pace behind her.

They had started this little workout a few weeks after her birthday. Charlotte would run to her house which was almost two miles away under the watchful eye of Optimus. He would trail behind her and give her a ride if she needed it. The forest in this area was thick, so he wouldn't be detected. His main problem was trying to keep up with Charlotte while maneuvering his way around the trees without further hurting his left arm. That and the right side of his hip were the only injuries that gave him much trouble.

After 25 minutes, they safely reached their destination. Charlotte continued running until she reached the door to her house. Optimus walked around to the back and put Charlotte's things on the outside balcony. He was thinking about telling her that she bettered her time since yesterday, when he detected Tony getting dropped off by his buddies. Optimus instead silently retreated to the forest.

"The party is home!" Tony yelled as he walked through the front door. He heard a "whatever" from upstairs, most likely his sister. He grabbed a snack on his way up the stairs for a quick shower. He got out and saw that Charlotte was waiting for him. "Wuz up, lil sis?"

"Why are you showering? You never shower when you get home." She had one hand on her hip and the other was holding her bathing supplies.

"It's not really your business, thank you very much." Tony pushed past her and went to his room to get ready.

Charlotte followed him to his room, "What? You got another hot date or something?" she teased him as she leaned on the door frame.

He rolled his eyes as he quickly pulled his 'Call of Duty' shirt over his head. "No, my friends and I are just gonna hang out. I won't be back till late tonight. Tell mom and dad not to wait up." He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his 'Gamer' snap-back hat, and mess up Charlotte's hair with his hand as he walked passed her. "Later shorty," was all he said as he hurried downstairs. She saw him get in the car with his buddies, and then they were gone.

"Humph, okay." Charlotte proceeded on her way to the shower.

* * *

><p>It was 2:37 AM, and a group of teenage boys were speeding down a long stretch of road. They were just messing around, having fun with the radio blasting. None of them considered how fast they were actually going.<p>

"Yo dude, when am I turning?" the driver of the truck asked.

"The turn isn't for a while, just keep going straight," was practically yelled in response from one of the guys in the back.

Trees and street signs zoomed by, and the driver missed the sign warning about the potential for animals crossing. The head lights saw the deer first, but by then it was too late. They were going way too fast.

"OH SHI….!" The driver slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel sharply. The truck curved and flipped on its side. It flipped again, and again, flying high off the ground several times. It would have continued spinning out of control if it hadn't run into a tree on the side of the road. The vehicle was right-side-up, but it was terribly disfigured. Metal parts lay everywhere. All the passengers seemed to be out cold, if not dead. It didn't help that the truck was smoking.

* * *

><p>Optimus was awakened suddenly by an unknown source. It sounded like metal being torn apart, a sound he was all too familiar with. He left his shelter and scanned the surrounding area. He detected a disturbance down the road leading to Charlotte's house. He decided to investigate, with the aid of the shadows to help conceal him.<p>

He quickly headed to the disturbance. He came upon the scene of a car accident. He searched the area. No one was around, so he made the decision to help. Besides, he was an autobot, and autobots helped those in need.

Optimus' scanners picked up the flammable gas scattered across the street. The humans were now in even greater danger. Optimus ran to the totaled truck. He easily, yet cautiously, tore the roof off the car. He saw four teenage boys, all wearing their seatbelts. "Thank Primus for that," Optimus thought to himself. He needed to work fast. Thankfully, the interior of the car was not nearly as bad as the outside. He carefully ripped the seat belts from their bodies. As he reached down to grab one of the boys, he noticed what was on his shirt, 'Call of Duty'.

"Tony…" Optimus whispered. A spark caught Optimus' attention. He then hurriedly grabbed the rest of the teenagers bringing them close to his chest for protection. He turned his back to the truck right as it exploded. The explosion caused him to fly forward. He landed with one knee on the ground. Optimus looked down at the boys. They seemed to be unconscious, and more importantly, not harmed from the blast. Optimus patched himself to the police apartment.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"There has been a car accident on Black Fox road, approximately 12.7 yards north from the mile marker 72. Four teenage boys, all require medical attention." Optimus told the operator while he scanned the boys' vitals. They all had at least two bones broken in some way, along with other things. "Injuries include broken limbs, internal bleeding, minor lacerations, one concussion, and the driver has cerebral hemorrhaging. The gas all over the road caused the vehicle to explode. No one was hurt in this explosion." As Optimus was saying the last part, he was extinguishing the fire. It was easy being how he was a fire truck.

"Sir, your information has been most helpful. We are sending ambulances, fire engines, and officers your way. They will be there shorty. What is your name?" the operator inquired of the Prime.

Optimus simply replied, "Please hurry," and ended the call. He laid the boys carefully on the street. He then put emergency flares all around them. He heard sirens in the distance. Optimus was about to return to the safety of the trees, when he heard a moan. He looked back and saw that Tony was moving his head in his direction. Optimus quickly took shelter in the trees. The rescue teams were arriving. EMTs ran out of their vehicles and went to the injured boys. Tony was still looking in Optimus' direction when they arrived. But when the EMTs got to him, he lost consciousness again.

Optimus remained hidden in the distance for a while. He wanted to make sure they got the proper care they needed, which they did. The first responders were able to identify who the boys were and notified their families. Optimus headed back to his base. He wondered if Tony was awake the entire time and if he had seen him…

* * *

><p>"Is he going to be alright?" Tony heard a female voice, it sounded like his mom's.<p>

He then heard an unfamiliar voice, "Yes, his wounds could have been much worst. A broken arm, dislocated shoulder, and a slash to the chest are minor considering what could have happened. He can thank his seatbelt for that. He and his friends were lucky that someone was there to pull them out of the truck. If they would have stayed there, they probably wouldn't have made it out alive."

"Is there any word yet on who made the call?" Tony identified that authoritative voice as his fathers.

"He moved!"_ Now that's my little sister_, Tony thought. Her voice was the easiest to make out.

"Tony, can you hear me?" the unfamiliar voice must have belonged to the doctor.

Tony opened his eyes for the first time. He blinked several times. He looked around the hospital room and saw his parents and sister, along with a doctor. Once he saw the guy in a white coat, he nodded at him.

"Good, now I'm just going to ask you a few questions." The doctor asked him the usual questions for someone who had just been in a car accident. Tony was one of the luckier ones. His friends were pretty banged up compared to him. He was also the first one to wake up from the accident.

Once the doctor had everything he needed to know, some officers came in and asked him a few questions. Most of them revolved around every detail about how the accident happened. They also wanted to know if Tony had remembered anything after the accident, such as the stranger who pulled them out of the vehicle. Tony told the cops that he was knocked out after the accident. He told them how he sort of remembers hearing the sirens, and that was it. They thanked him for his time and left.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Tony shrugged now that he was finally alone with his family.

His father replied, "Hell yeah you're in trouble." He would have gone on a rant if his wife hadn't cut in.

"Robert, he was just in an accident. Cut him some slack." Anna then turned to her son. "No, you are not in trouble. Don't think about that right now. You need to focus on getting better." She told him as she caressed his scarred face.

"But Anna," the father started, but he was silenced by his wife's glare.

* * *

><p>Tony was released from the hospital the next day with a cast on his arm and a sling. So far, he was the only one from the accident that was permitted to leave. It was a quiet trip back to the house. When they did get home, Tony went straight to his room. Something was bothering him and his family could see it. His mom sought to make it better by cooking his favorite meal.<p>

Charlotte ran up stairs to her brother's room. "Tony," she waited. "Tony, it's me." She knocked again, and when he didn't answer, she opened the door. She saw him sitting in his computer chair looking out the open window. The light breeze made his hair sway a little. "Mom is making your favorite, lasagna. It'll be done soon."

He was quiet for a bit, but then he said, "Kay thanks. Please shut the door on your way out." Charlotte left sadly and went to help her mom with dinner.

It was an uncomfortably quiet dinner. Tony was bothered by something, his parents were silently arguing, and Charlotte was just there awkwardly eating. Tony went to bed early that night, nobody thought anything of it.

After finishing with cleaning up the kitchen, Charlotte went to her room. "What's wrong with him, Leo? That's not the Tony I know and love."

Leo replied from his spot on the ceiling fan, "He just went through a life-changing event. He could have died. Give him some time; he's probably still in shock."

"You're right, but how long until he'll get better again," she asked as she turned the fan on. This made Leo hang on for dear life as the wings on the fan started moving faster and faster.

"Waaaaoooo!" Leo yelled as he was sent flying onto Charlotte's bed. He then dizzily replied, "I don't know. Optimus might have a better answer. I mean, it's not like he hasn't gone through life threatening situations." Giving up on trying to keep his balance, he fell back onto the pillows.

"True, it's been awhile since we lasted talked anyway. I'll ask tomorrow." Now that Charlotte thought of it, she hadn't talked to him since the day of the accident right before her run. He just might know something about this entire situation.

* * *

><p>Tony had been lying in bed, unable to fall asleep. He looked at the clock. It was 2:20 in the morning. Giving up on the idea of falling asleep, he decided to visit the place where he almost died. He got up, careful not to hurt himself any more than he already was, and snuck out of the house. It was a good fifteen minute walk to the site. The full moon illuminated the tire marks on the road, along with the damaged tree.<p>

The October night was a little chilly and breezy. Tony shivered in his thin pajamas. He turned to return home when something in the trees caught his eye. "Hello…is anyone there?"

No answer.

"Well…if someone is there and that person happens to be the one who saved my friends and me, I want to say thank you." Tony waited for a long moment, but nothing happened. He shivered again.

He turned to head back home when, for just a second, he saw what had been disturbing him ever since the accident. He could have sworn he saw some really big thing with eyes that glowed yellow. That was all he really remembered. He remembered seeing them when the roof was ripped off the car. And again he saw those eyes looking directly at him for a moment before their owner got him and his friends away from the explosion. He most vividly remembers those eyes looking at him when the sirens from the emergency vehicles could be heard in the distance.

Now he had just seen those eyes again, in the same spot he saw them before he lost consciousness. "I know you're there. I can see your eyes." The owner of the eyes did not move. They just kept on staring at him, at his eyes, into his soul.

Optimus gazed at Charlotte's brother from his kneeling position. His scanners picked up Tony's body temperature, telling him that the boy was cold. Optimus pulled out a blanket, given to him by Charlotte. With his right hand he held it out, far enough for Tony to see it, but not enough to see his hand.

Tony cautiously walked up to the blanket, eyeing the eyes that watched him from high up. Tony looked at the blanket and recognized it. It belonged to Charlotte. "How did you get this?" He asked.

Optimus wasn't sure what to say, which seemed to be happening more often than not. He looked away from Tony.

"Hey! I said 'where did you get this?' Don't look away from me." Tony said a little more sternly then he intended.

Optimus turned his attention back to him, not liking his tone. "Your sister gave it to me."

Tony was surprised at what he heard. Yeah, the news was stunning enough, but the voice was what really shocked him. Tony actually stumbled backwards from the powerful voice. He tripped on his own feet and squeezed his eyes shut waiting for impact, which would definitely hurt his sore body. The impact never came. Instead he felt the blanket wrapped around him.

Optimus had lunged forward and caught Tony, he just happened to have the blanket engulfed in his hand to soften Tony's fall. But now, Optimus' upper body was exposed. Tony saw the huge mechanical creature that saved him from a world of pain.

"What…is…Oh…MY…" Tony's voice was getting louder with every word.

"Please don't do that," Optimus asked softly.

Tony went silent.

"If you let me, I will explain everything." Optimus spoke quietly to keep Tony calm.

Tony responded with a nod.

Optimus took Tony to his shielded base. There he introduced himself and told Tony how Charlotte and he met several months ago. His crash landing, the night in the rain, how Leo was now alive, and how he was the one who saved him. He briefly mentioned the civil war, which led to him telling Tony he was an alien. He transformed for him to prove that point.

Tony thought he had seen that fire engine before, and it was always only when Charlotte was around. Tony then had another thought, "So, what's the deal with you and my sister?"

Optimus transformed back into his robot mode, and lifted an optic ridge, "What do you mean?"

"Like, why do you stay around? If you're an alien, shouldn't you be trying to get back to your people?"

"I've been trying to contact them. Your technology is not strong enough to reach them. I am stranded here, unable to call for assistance."

Tony pondered over what he recently heard. "Then why stay with Charlotte? Why not try to make contact with the government? They could probably help you better than my sister can."

"Put yourself in my 'shoes'," Optimus was getting better with human analogies, "if you were on an alien planet would you want to make yourself known to that world's most powerful military. You don't know what stance the government will take when they learn of your existence. You wouldn't be able to defend yourself against its entire military force if it stood against you. They wouldn't know what you were, so what's to stop them from doing tests on you when they can overpower you. On top of all that, you aren't even at your full strength. You are injured and weak." Optimus unintentionally thundered.

Tony, who was now nervous, went silent. He hadn't really thought about it. Optimus obviously knows what he is doing and he has had a lot of time to think about it. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Optimus' soothing voice.

"Please forgive me, I had no right to use that tone with you." Alien or not, anyone could hear the apology in his metallic voice.

"Oh, it's cool bro; don't sweat it. You probably need to let out steam, and that's not easy for ya because of your size." Tony gave him a half smile.

Optimus nodded in response. _Bro…_ "Well Tony, now that you know, you must realize that no one can know of Leo's or my existence," his voice had taken on a more business-like tone.

"Your secret is safe with me." Tony looked around, suddenly realizing he had no idea where he was, "umm…"

"I'll take you to your house. Hop on," Optimus extended his hand. Tony wobbled on, making sure to keep his injured arm safe from harm. He used the metal fingers to help him. Once Tony was secure, Optimus headed for the house.

When they reached their destination, Optimus put Tony back on the ground. Tony had one foot in the house when he turned his upper body to the autobot, "Are we gonna tell Charlotte about me meeting you tomorrow?" He got a noiseless nod from the Leader of the Autobots.

* * *

><p>Despite it being a Saturday, Charlotte woke up early the next morning. She rolled out of bed and sluggishly walked to the kitchen. While eating her cereal, she saw a note from her parents saying how they both left for work and that she needed to take care of her brother until they got home later that night.<p>

"No, duh." She rinsed out her bowl and went back upstairs to check on Tony. He was fast asleep. She went back downstairs to watch TV in the living room, but saw that someone had beaten her to it. Leo was in there watching _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_.

Charlotte was shaking her head as she approached. "Seriously?"

"Yerp," was the iPod's reply.

"Scoot over before I sit on you." They watched an episode and a half before they heard large footsteps approaching from outside. Not long after that, the room was lit up by a yellow light. Charlotte turned to see Optimus' eye in the window.

Charlotte got up from where she was sitting and went outside. "Morning," she said with a smile.

Optimus dipped his head in response. He was getting better at Earth greetings too.

"So hey, I had a question involving…" _Tony_. She totally forgot he was there. _He could see Optimus_! "Ah, you need to go! Tony is upstai…" she didn't get to finish. She heard the door open behind her and looked to see her brother come out of the house.

"'Sup Optimus. Oh, morning lil sis; didn't see ya there. I was too busy looking at up at our tall friend." Tony said rather casually.

Too casually for Charlotte, "You know about him!?" _What is this?_ She thought.

"Whoa, take it easy. Yeah, I know about him. He explained everything to me last night." Tony had Charlotte sit down on the porch steps. He told her about last night and about the night of the accident. After Charlotte was brought up to speed, Tony asked, "So why didn't you tell me about him sooner?"

"I didn't know how you would react. You could have told mom and dad and that could have ended badly. I didn't want to take the chance." She answered as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

"I guess that makes sense. Well, you can trust me. I'll help keep him a secret." He gave his sister a side hug.

"Thanks"

"It's the least I could do. I mean, it's not like he saved my life or anything."

"True," Optimus and Charlotte said in unison.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Decepticon HQ (Weeks Later)<strong>_

"Slag! Blackout is on to me. He thinks I had something to do with our leader's disappearance, and he is usually never wrong. Frag head, he is too loyal for his own good. Oh well, to keep him off my tail I guess I'll have to keep sending him on suicide missions until he dies. The only problem is that he is so slagging great at fighting and staying alive. The big lug nut won't die." Starscream was talking to himself, which he often did. "I need to cover up my trail. If he can't find me guilty, then Soundwave undoubtedly will."

Starscream had been giving the decepticons communications officer a heavy workload, but Soundwave was quickly getting it done. Starscream worked diligently to cover his tracks. After some time, he was successful. He felt confident sleeping at night, knowing that the decepticons were now his to control and no one could blame him for Megatron's absence. But of course, someone always had to ruin his good mood.

"Commander Starscream," Barricade started, but didn't finish because he got slapped across the face by Starscream.

"It's Lord Starscream! Lord! Get it right!" Starscream screamed in the scout's face.

Barricade gave the seeker an irritated look. Primus, he wanted to teach Starscream a lesson, but that wouldn't get him anywhere, except the brig. "Lord," he spat, "Starscream," he spat that too, "Soundwave picked up an encrypted Cybertronian message from an uncharted part the universe. He says it could possibly be Megatron."

"What!" Starscream screeched. _How could he have possibly survived his wounds?_ "Where is Soundwave?!"

Barricade escorted the current decepticon leader to the decepticon communications officer. Soundwave turned away from the computer screen upon their arrival.

"Show him what you got, Soundwave." Barricade hissed as Starscream pushed past him.

"What do you have involving Megatron?!" Starscream demanded angrily.

Soundwave in response turned back to the screen and pointed at a picture of a Milky Way galaxy. Where his finger pointed there was a pop up. It was heavily encoded in ancient Cybertronian. The symbols were from both autobot and decepticon origin. The only ones who knew of this ancient Cybertronian were Megatron, and Optimus Prime. It had to be from one of them, but which one.

Starscream didn't want to chance it being Megatron. "I'll go and investigate. If it is our leader, I will bring him back to us. If it is Optimus Prime, then I will do what Megatron failed to do and destroy him." He then turned on his heel and prepared to leave.

Once Starscream left, Barricade looked at Soundwave. "Can we trust him? He has a history of trying to get rid of our true Lord, Megatron."

Soundwave replied using a recording of Starscream, "I'll go and investigate." Then he played back Barricade's voice, "He has a history of trying to get rid of our true Lord, Megatron."

* * *

><p>It was December and Winter Break had finally arrived. Charlotte's family had made plans to rent cabins with some friends during the break. Charlotte's best friends were among those who came.<p>

Her friend, Clarissa who was an only child, came with her parents. Her mother was a university professor who taught Medieval History, and her father was a firefighter captain. Charlotte's other best friend, Christine, came up with her family. She had an older sister who was around Tony's age. Her mother is in the army and her father sells milk. Both Charlotte's and Clarissa's fathers always gave Christine's dad a hard time, being how their jobs were all heroic and all he did was sell milk.

"Hey, I have a very tough job. The other day I had to wrestle a feisty cat to deliver this old woman's milk. I almost had to get stiches." Christine's dad tried to defend himself.

"Yeah sure, and the other day I was in a firefight. I was almost shot." Robert teased his friend as he was barbequing dinner.

"Good one," Clarissa's father said. He clinked his beer with Robert's.

Charlotte and her trio walked up to their dads. "I don't mean to break this up, but can we go into the forest? We wanna go on a hike." Charlotte asked her father.

"You guys want to go hiking in the snow?" he questioned.

The ever so energetic Clarissa spoke up, "Yes! Duh, it's not every day we get the chance to go on a hike together."

"We're fully prepared. We got our snow boots, snow jackets, snow gloves, and even a walkie-talkie so we can check in with you guys at the top of every hour." Christine added with a confident smile.

"Well…" one of the fathers began.

"Pretty pleeeeeaaasssee," the three teens pleaded.

"The physical appearance of the please makes no difference." Clarissa's dad quoted.

The trio of friends didn't know how to respond, but their expressions were funny. The fathers laughed and then Robert spoke. "Oh alright, check in with us every half hour, don't wonder off too far, and stick together. And…"

"WE KNOW." They said in unison after they recovered.

"Just making sure, now get outta here." They hugged their dads and then took off into the white forest.

Not even fifteen minutes into the hike, they were out of breath. Walking uphill in the snow was a lot harder than they thought, and the cold air didn't help any. They took a small break, and then started back up again. They were too tired to really talk, so Christine pulled out her iPod and put some music on.

When Leo, who was in Charlotte's pocket, heard the music he was ever so slightly bothered. He carefully pulled himself out of her pocket and climbed to her shoulder. Charlotte was further ahead of her two friends, so they didn't see Leo. "What is this? Have I been replaced by this lower grade of an iPod? Am I not worthy to grace thy ears with thyn beautiful sounds?" Leo tragically fake cried.

Charlotte laughed. "Get back in there before someone sees you." He smiled a cheesy smile, and then went back into her pocket.

"What's so funny?" Charlotte heard one of her buddies say.

"Nothing," she yelled back at them. "Hurry up you slow pokes, a snail could beat you at that pace."

"Hey give us a break, we don't run every day like you do." Clarissa panted as she finally caught up with her friend.

Christine who was not far behind said, "Yeah we, like every other American our age, are couch potatoes."

They giggled at her comment. _Only she would say that_, Charlotte thought. "When zombies come, you'll be glad we did this." They all laughed again, but it was true. Zombies were going to come one day, and they needed to be prepared. They checked in on their walkie-talkie once and then again later. They took another break.

"So, you guys ready to head back?" Clarissa requested from where she was sitting on a log.

"I am!" Christine jumped up, "let's get going."

"Hold on Couch Potato, we're still resting." Charlotte joked. She was standing on top of a small bolder. When they were ready, she slid down. Their return journey started off much easier then when they first started. It was downhill. Being how they weren't out of breath anymore, they talked. While they were talking, Christine thought she heard something.

"Hey guys, hold on." They stopped and looked at her.

"What's up?"

"I could have sworn I heard something."

"Like?" Clarissa asked.

Christine was about to respond when they all heard it. Growling…and it sounded close. They all turned slowly in the direction of the growl. They heard heavy footsteps from behind a bolder covered in snow. They then heard the footsteps stop. At the edge of the bolder, they saw the creature's breath. The teenagers were all frozen in fear. Charlotte's heart was pounding so loudly, she was sure the animal heard it. Then the worst possible thing happened. Her father's voice came up on the walkie-talkie.

"Hey girls, food is almost ready. If you haven't begun heading back, it's time to start. See you soon. Over." Mr. Ire's voice all but boomed out of the little device.

Christine and Clarissa gave Charlotte terrified looks, they then turned to the sound of a loud snarl. Charlotte just saw a blur of black coming at them before she turned and yelled, "Run!" They all sprinted clumsily down the hill. Charlotte looked back to see what was chasing them and saw that it was a bear.

"How the heck are we supposed to outrun a bear!?" Christine screamed.

"I don't gotta outrun it. I just gotta outrun you!" Clarissa screamed back at her. She was running past a tree when her jacket got caught on a branch. She frantically pulled free, but when she did the branch swung back, knocking Christine in the stomach and making her go down. Clarissa was too scared to look back so she didn't know that Christine went down, but Charlotte did and she went back for her friend.

While she was helping Christine up, Charlotte saw the bear coming at them fast. She didn't know what to do so she did the only thing she thought might save them and shouted, "OPTIMUS!" when nothing happened, reality set in. He wasn't anywhere close. He was most likely still parked somewhere near the cabins. Instead of just giving in, she rather aggressively yanked Christine up and they both started running. They heard the bear's breathing and could tell it was on their heels. It had closed that gap between them quickly. The ground suddenly began to shake, and the two friends were sent flying forward by a force from behind them. They heard what sounded like a yelp, and then the bear was gone.

Charlotte turned onto her back, looked up and sighed in relief. Seeing Optimus there…was just…she wouldn't ever forget that feeling of relief, happiness, and joy flooding her at the same time. She snapped out of it and got up, wiped the snow off of her, and helped her friend up. Christine was staring up at the metal giant. She didn't say anything, she just continued to stare.

Optimus turned his attention away from the fleeing animal and looked down at the girls. He knelt down so he was closer to their level. "Are you two alright?" He extended his hand to wipe some snow off of Charlotte's head, but when he reached out, Christine turned on her heel and booked it toward the cabins, screaming something that sounded like 'momma'.

"Well, that could have been worst." Leo had poked his head out of the pocket he was confined in.

Charlotte forgot he was even there. "Trrruuuueee…hey! Where the heck were you when the bear attacked!?" She asked harshly of Leo. "Some protector you are."

"I'm teeny tiny! What the heck could I have done? It's a flipping bear! Did you want me to…!?" Leo defended, but was cut off mid-sentence by Optimus.

"We will worry about this later; we have other problems at hand." Charlotte and Leo instantly stopped their arguing when they heard Optimus' commanding voice. "We must stop Christine before she reveals our existence."

"How?" Charlotte asked.

Optimus replied, "By giving chase." He scooped his little friends up and quickly navigated his way through the white forest. In no time at all, they cut off Christine. Optimus gently put Charlotte on the ground so she could explain everything to Christine. She was hesitant to believe her friend, but she eventually gave in.

"One down, one to go." Leo commented from atop Charlotte's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Christine asked.

"We don't have to worry about you anymore; it's the other friend now." Leo said matter-of-factly.

"Oh crap, Clarissa probably made it back already. She is going to tell everyone about the bear!" Charlotte slapped her hand to her head in frustration.

Optimus decided to take over, "Contact Tony. She hasn't made it to the cabins yet. He can intercept her and bring her to us where we can fill her in on what's really going on."

Charlotte forgot they had a military strategist with them. "Oh, that makes sense. Good plan," Charlotte wiped out the walkie-talkie spoke into it. "Hey dad, are you there? Over."

They waited a moment, and then Robert's voice was heard, "Yeah, I'm here. What's up? Over."

"Can you give the walkie-talkie to Tony? We need to talk to him, over."

"Sure thing, over," Robert gave the device to his son. "Your sister needs to talk with you."

Tony excused himself from the room where he was talking with Christine's older sister, Cassie. "What do you want, Charlotte, I'm busy." Tony asked.

"I know you're with Cassie. Can I talk to you alone? We got ourselves a little problem…" Charlotte told Tony the situation. He looked out the window and saw Clarissa frantically running his way. He quickly grabbed his snow boots and jacket, yelled an "I'll be right back" to anyone who was listening, and ran outside the cabin to meet Clarissa.

"Tony! There's a bear! We were hiking and a bear came out of nowhere! We need to get," Clarissa panted.

Tony decided to cut in now that she stopped to take a breath. "We know. Everyone is already on it. They told me to stay behind for when you get here and take you to a safe spot. Come on." Tony put an arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her. Clarissa was still out of breath. She was about to ask how they knew, when Tony beat her to it and said, "They got a hold of us through the walkie-talkies."

She managed an "oh" and was led to a different part of the forest, away from the cabins. It wasn't until they went over a hill, and the cabins were no longer in view, that Clarissa became suspicious. "Where are we going?"

"To that safe spot I was talking about."

"Away from everybody?" Clarissa got out from under Tony's arm and turned around. She was about to run back to the cabin when she heard her name from behind her. She turned back around and saw Charlotte and Christine. "You're alive!"

"Yeah," they both muttered uncertainly. They weren't sure if Optimus wanted her to know the truth. He was really up-tight when it came to his secret. They didn't have much time to think about it because the next thing they knew, they were tackled to the snowy ground by Clarissa's hug. She was teary eyed while they were just giggling.

"Why are you two laughing?! You could have died!" Clarissa cried.

They felt bad for her, so they decided to just tell her the truth. She of course didn't believe it until Leo transformed and introduced himself. Optimus wasn't too happy about it, but he revealed himself to also help convince her. Clarissa wasn't scared of Leo, but Optimus was another matter entirely.

"Don't worry; we all were a little scared of him at first too. But he will warm up to you." Tony told her on their way back to the cabins.

"So you all knew about them?" Clarissa asked.

"Just Tony and I knew about Leo and Optimus. You and Chrissy found out today." Charlotte answered her friend. She then gave them the usual talk on how the aliens must be kept a secret and all that fun stuff. After eating in their cabin, they went into one of their rooms to talk about the Transformers. Tony didn't join them. Charlotte told her best buddies about how she met Optimus, the war that ravaged his planet, how Leo was a birthday gift from Optimus, and that Optimus was hurt and trying to reach his people. "Can you guys keep the secret and help me help him?"

"Duh girl, we got you," was Clarissa's response.

Christine nodded her head and said, "Three minds are better than one."

Leo cut in with the final say, "Make that four minds!"

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Space<strong>_

Starscream was flying in space toward where the encrypted message originated from. With the message being ancient Cybertronian, none of the decepticons could decode it. However, Starscream had a good idea about what it said. It had to be from one of the leaders. He just hoped that when he found whoever sent it, that bot would be so badly damaged that he could kill them easily.

He followed the signal all the way to an uncharted planet. The planet was the third from the star it orbited and had one moon, instead of two like Cybertron. The planet's atmosphere consisted of multiple of harmless gases. From his view, the planet was mainly blue. It had regions that were green, brown, yellow, and white. There were white swirly things that covered the planet too.

Starscream detected life on the planet, and that spiked his curiosity. He shielded his energy signature when he saw a disfigured metal machine orbiting his way. It turned out to be a satellite. He easily hacked into it and learned everything about this strange planet called Earth.

"I will resume my search for the encrypted signal later, for now; I want to learn more about this planet for it could prove useful in the future." The seeker said to himself. He didn't realize that he was being followed by Laserbeak…


	10. Chapter 10: Infighting

**Chapter 10: Infighting**

It was late April and track season was coming to an end. Charlotte and her trio of friends were looking forward to the end of the season and summer break. It was a late Friday afternoon and the track meet had just ended. Christine and Clarissa asked Charlotte for a ride home. She of course said yes, so they all headed for the fire truck in the parking lot. As they all approached the truck, Charlotte noticed that Optimus was sinking onto his tires. When they were all settled inside, Optimus started his engine with a sign. Charlotte caught it, but her friends didn't notice.

Charlotte moved to the passenger seat, while her friends were seated in the back talking about some national park that was close by. "Hey, everything okay with ya? You seem kinda down…" Charlotte asked quietly to Optimus. The only reply she got was a slight rev of the engine and a sharp turn out of the parking lot. "I'll take that as a 'yes, something's wrong' answer."

Suddenly Clarissa jumped out of her seat and pointed out the window at a sign far up the road. "Look! It's that park I was talking about! We have to do a paper on it. Do you think we can drop by real quick?" she begged of Charlotte.

"Well…I don't know," replied Charlotte with a shaky voice. They did need to visit it for their school assignment, but Optimus didn't seem like he was in a good mood.

"Don't get your hopes up too much. Based on the website I found, it says that the park closes early on Fridays. We couldn't have gone even if we wanted to." Christine said from behind a lit up phone screen.

"In that case, then we definitely can't…" Charlotte shrugged, "Oh well."

"But," the wheels were turning in Clarissa's head, "we could always sneak in the park. It would be easy with Optimus helping out."

The Prime wanted to slam on his breaks in protest, but that was something a sparkling would do so he didn't. He instead grunted in disapproval. "I do not think it wise…"

"Ah come on! It could work!" Clarissa exclaimed. Optimus was about to tell Clarissa 'no' when she started speaking again. "Charlie back me up. We need to get this done and we might as well get it out of the way now. Persuade him. It will be really fun if you think about it."

Charlotte did want to go. Going to the national park with her buddies would be fun, and sneaking in would be a bonus. "Can we, Optimus? I think we should…please" she asked sweetly.

"I…," Optimus started, but Leo popped out of nowhere.

"I say we take a vote. Every one for sneaking into the park raise your hand." Every one including Leo raised their hand. "Well then that's settled, we goin' to the park. Democracy wins!" Leo jumped to the steering wheel and turned the wheel in the direction of the national park.

Optimus mumbled a 'fine' and continued to the park as all of his passengers cheered. As he drove past the national park sign, he failed to notice the weird device that was hidden behind the sign. When he pasted it, a little red light started flashing.

* * *

><p><strong>Secret Government Base – Code Name: "Timber Wolves"<strong>

The numerous screens in the command center illuminated the sleep-deprived and driven faces of the Timber Wolf Task Force. Displayed on the screens were different satellite images of the area surrounding the recent alien activity as well as other activity in surrounding states. Not tracking down the alien that appeared several months ago had taken a toll on everyone in the center. The "Boss", Captain Leland "Silas" Bishop, was even more upset because it was the second alien he had lost. At the moment, he was in his office sipping on his fourth cup of coffee. As he had been doing for the past several weeks, he was studying the screens, searching desperately for something he may have missed. All of a sudden, one of the screens of the command center began flashing red and a small alarm began to sound. The previously lifeless environment had quickly transformed into a busy, loud and demanding one. Everyone was on full alert.

One of the workers told his colleague to go notify the Capt. The colleague quickly made his way to the Silas's office. He knocked and entered. "Boss, scanner T-137 just went off. What are your orders?" The subordinate gulped.

Silas looked over his computer screen with cold eyes. In the dark room, the light from the screen really pronounced his scarred face. "Scanner T-137…that's not far from here." He stood up and proceeded out the door, the subordinate following quickly on his heels. "Dispatch three helicopters; have them ready in five minutes. I need to suite up."

The officer took off to do as he was told, while Silas went to the hanger to suit up for the mission. As he expected, the rest of the team was there getting ready as well. Something was off. He realized that one of the members was not supposed to be there. The only girl suiting up was the one he did not want to take part in this mission.

"Now just what do you think you're doing? Take the suite off," Silas said rather nicely. This kind of talk was uncommon for a guy like him, but he was usually nice to this particular woman.

"Nope. Sorry, you know I can't do that. This is my job, plus someone has to keep an eye on you," the woman said somewhat sarcastically as she put her short hair in a baby ponytail. "Now let's move out!" she ordered the men into the three fastest helicopters. The mission had begun and they were about fifteen minutes from their destination.

Silas made sure he was in the same helicopter as the woman. "This job is dangerous; I wouldn't want you getting hurt now." He explained to the hardheaded women next to him.

She laughed, "Must we have this talk on every mission? You and I both know I was reassigned here, and this is what I do. I have to come."

The Boss rested his hand on her thigh, "But you have a family that would dearly miss you if anything were to ever happen to you, Mrs. Ire."

Anna slapped the unwanted hand away, "Exactly, I have a family so back off. You need to stop hitting on me Silas, if my husband ever knew you had the hots for me and did things like that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot you."

Silas smiled his twisted smile, "He can try, for I welcome a challenge...not that he will be much."

"So you think. Just get focused; we can't afford to lose the alien this time. Sector 7 wasn't pleased with the latest results."

"Then let the hunt begin," replied Silas as the helicopters took off into the setting sun.

* * *

><p><strong>National Park – After hours<strong>

It was surprisingly easy to sneak into the park. Then again, with an advanced alien helping out, why should it not be easy? With the sun just barely hanging over the mountains, nightfall was just around the corner. The night shift patrol were notorious for skipping their routine patrols in the farther parts of the park. Fortunately for Charlotte and her friends, tonight was one of those nights.

"Sweet, we're in," Clarissa whispered. The national park they had snuck into consisted of small canyons with all sort of plant life, ranging from the smallest of bushes to breathtaking seventy-five foot trees. The park had a single river that flowed through it, but there were small ponds and creaks spread out here and there.

The group of friends explored with the little light that was still provided by the sun. They went to as many of the information markers spread throughout the park as they could. When the sun had set completely, everyone but Charlotte pulled out their cell phones for light. Charlotte had Leo as her light. They were relieved that they were able to get some great resources for their school assignment. Everything was going smoothly, until they entered one of the caves at the edge of one of the many canyons.

The girls stood at the entrance of the dark, creepy cave. They were debating whether they needed information about it or not, since none of them wanted to go any farther in. Optimus was standing in the canyon next to them. His abdomen was at the level of the cave entrance. He quickly grew tired of their discussion and took a knee so that he was eye level with the cave entrance.

"Step aside," he directed. Charlotte and her friends did as they were told. The cave was suddenly lit with light. Charlotte looked at Optimus to see what he had done. She was a little surprised to see that his eyes were like spotlights looking into the cave. "There, you now have enough light to continue with your research."

"Sweet! Thanks Optimus," Clarissa said as they all entered the cave, completely oblivious to the growing sound of helicopters in the distance.

While Clarissa and Charlotte were taking notes, Christine was making shadow puppets on the wall. "Hey guys, check this out." Christine laughed as she made a variety of animals. She was actually pretty good at it.

Charlotte was shaking her head, "Very nice, but do you want to come over here and be useful?" she asked while stifling a giggle.

Outside, Optimus sighed. _This is going to take forever_, he thought to himself. He really wanted to get back to his base to continue working on his "project". Then Optimus had heard helicopters a few minutes prior, but the sound had grown uncomfortably close. He began to feel as though something were wrong. He turned his head in the direction of the rotating rotors, which were behind him. But before he could turn completely, he heard a series of complaints coming from the now darkened cave.

He quickly looked back into the cave apologizing, "Sorry, my bad."

Charlotte yelled from inside the cave, "It's okay! Is everything alright out there?" she asked.

"Uh…" Optimus hesitated to respond because he wasn't completely sure if something was amiss or if he was just being paranoid. He didn't have that much time to think about it though, because he quickly turned to the sound of three military helicopters coming straight at him from over the treetops. "Stay in there and don't come out!" Optimus ordered as he distanced himself from the cave to lead the helicopters away from Charlotte and her friends.

Back inside the cave, the three teenagers and little transformer roamed about blindly in the dark. "Did he just yell at us to stay in here?" Leo asked as he activated his lights.

When the girls saw the little light, they gathered around it. It was Clarissa who answered Leo. "Yeah, I think so, but why would he?" They all were wondering the same thing. What was going on out there?

Charlotte stood up. "I'm going outside and to see what's going on," she said as she started making her way toward the cave entrance.

Leonardo jumped up trying to stop her, "But Optimus said to stay in…" the little iPod was suddenly thrown off his feet by some unknown source from the outside. And he wasn't the only one, the humans all fell down too. The ground and walls shook violently for a few seconds. Leo was on his little hands and knees, "That can't be good."

Outside, Optimus had just made impact with the canyon wall. He grunted when he looked at the blast wound on his chest, courtesy of one of the helicopters. As he tried getting back on his feet, they shined a huge light on him. One of the helicopters shot a grapple around Optimus' left forearm. "Scrape," was all Optimus managed to mutter before being viciously pulled by his bad arm. Before he was pulled to far, he dug his feet into the earth, stopping himself from being dragged. He reached over with his good arm and was about to pull himself free from the wire when another grappled was shot. Its target was his right leg. After it lassoed around his lower leg, it was tightly pulled, causing Optimus to spin and fall.

The ground shook violently under the huge transformer, causing the humans in the cave to collapse again. "What the heck is going on out there!?" Christine squeaked as she tried getting off the hard ground.

"I'll go check it out." Leo volunteered. "You guys stay here where it's safe." He mumbled, "I think," as he made his way to the entrance. He emerged to see Optimus on the ground, smoking emerging from his chest, with three helicopters circling around him. "Yikes!" Leo turned on his heels and ran back to explain to Charlotte what was happening. "We got a situation! And it's not good!"

Inside the head helicopter, Anna Ire noticed something odd about the alien they were attempting to capture. Yeah, it was the biggest one they have ever documented, but this one was just different from the rest. "Silas, do you notice anything different about this one?" Silas lifted an eyebrow as his answer. As far as he was concerned, it was just another invader that needed to be caught and studied. "The way it's fighting. How it's not using any of its weapons to defend itself? It's not even trying to run away. Is none of this is odd to you?" Charlotte's mom asked.

Silas was giving her a slightly confused look. "Well now that you pointed it out, I guess it's a little strange. But we will have to worry about that later. For right now, we just need to capture it. Our orders are clear." Silas saw that the robot was getting back up. "Shoot it again, don't let it recover!" he ordered.

Optimus dodged the shots that were fired at him. "You're going to have to do better than that," he taunted in Cybertronian. He didn't become the leader of the autobots by his good looks. No, it was his military and combat skills that got him this far. When he got shot the first time it was because the cave would have been hit, so to protect everyone inside, he had to take the hit. Now, however, these humans were just getting on his nerves. They shot another grapple around his right arm, trying to pull his arms apart. "Now you're gonna get it."

The Timber Wolves team had never encountered a robot so strong before and were taken by surprise when the alien easily pulled the two helicopters that had it by its arms down with one pull. It was gracefully done for none of the crew were injured in the crash, just stuck in the ground. The head helicopter was still in the air and still had the target by the foot.

Silas made eye contact with the red and blue robot. "I don't like the look it's giving me." And he was right to think that. Silas let out a small gasp as he saw the alien smirk at him.

Optimus pulled the wire around his foot towards him causing the helicopter to get closer and closer. He then abruptly stepped on the wire that was still suspended in the air, making the helicopter go crashing to the ground. Not all of the humans were knocked out from the crash, so Optimus set his lights to the brightest level and shone them on the military aircrafts to blind them as he retrieved Charlotte and her friends.

"Time to go," Optimus insisted as he rested his hand at the cave entrance.

Charlotte and her friends emerged into the light squinting. "Do you mind telling us _exactly_ what's going on," Charlotte coughed as she laid eyes on the helicopters.

"I'll explain later." More helicopters were coming, "Now let's get a move on." Optimus scooted everyone in his hands and took off toward the road. He had to be careful not to give any of the teenagers' whiplash from his running. He could easily hurt them with all of his up and down movements.

"I think I'm gonna hurl," Christine mumbled. Her face had taken on a green hue, and she was covering her mouth so as to void vomiting.

"Not on me!" Leo screamed as he tried to get away from the sick girl.

"Stop squirming!" Optimus commanded as he jumped over the park fence, careful not to harm them. Now that they were on open road, he could transform and get them out of there. "No one move," he ordered as he transformed with them in his hands still in mid-sprint. Now that he was on the open road, he could easily be spotted by anything, including traffic cameras. To avoid being caught on camera, Optimus shot out an Electro Magnetic Pulse, shutting down all power in the surrounding area.

Everyone was safely inside Optimus, who was now speeding away from the national park. "Okay, now Ima hurl," Christine weakly said right before throwing up in the back of the fire engine.

"Ah," Optimus growled in frustration. His patience for Charlotte's friends was growing thin.

"EW! I didn't think you would actually throw up!" Clarissa grossed out as she scooted away from the mess on the floor. "Someone open a window, it stinks!"

Optimus quickly rolled all of his windows down. "Charlotte, would you please clean up your friend's mess when we get back to your house."

"Sure thing."

Optimus knew he wasn't being followed because, with the power being out, the soldiers had no way of tracking him. He hurriedly dropped Clarissa and Christine off at their houses, since it was on the way to his destination. There wasn't much time for discussion on what had happened earlier.

"Thanks for the ride, Optimus. And sorry for vomiting inside you…" Christine hesitantly apologized.

"It never happened. Goodnight," the fire truck said before it continued its journey down the road. It wasn't long until they were at Charlotte's house. Both parents were still at work; only Tony was home playing video games.

As soon as Optimus was close enough to the house, Charlotte jumped out and went straight inside to get cleaning supplies. "I'll be right back." She was back outside in a matter of moments. Soon the inside of the fire truck smelled of Clorox. "There ya go, all nice and clean."

Once Charlotte was out of him, Optimus transformed and stretched his aching body. He hadn't leaked too much energon, so he was going to be okay. He was more concerned about how the humans were able to detect him and how they seemed, for the most part, equipped with the tools necessary to catch him. Their weapons would have worked on a weaker Cybertronian, but he was a Prime and is therefore stronger than the average Cybertronian. His distress and agitation was grew the more he thought about it. While he was rotating his left arm, making sure it was working properly, Charlotte spoke up.

"Ssssooo, what exactly happened? One minute everything's fine, and the next minute we're engulfed in darkness, you're yelling at us from the outside, and then the walls and ground start shaking. After a while of that, you finally let us out and we see three military helicopters down, and you're just…"

"Be quiet Charlotte!" Optimus raised his voice louder then he intended, but nevertheless, it got the message across. "I do not know exactly what happened! Just be quiet and let me think…" he rubbed the middle of his forehead, trying to calm his frustration but failing.

"Sir?" Leo quietly peeped from Charlotte's shoulder.

Optimus shot him a glare that instantly silenced him. Leo looked down to avoid his gaze. Charlotte on the other hand, got the hint, but chose to ignore it. "Optimus, let us help. We can figure this out together as a team, ya know." She politely suggested.

She was startled backward by his intimidating voice. "I do not need a child's help!" he took a violent step towards the forest to leave, but stopped since he realized what he had just done. He had said those same words long ago to someone else he dearly loved. The last time he had said them was to his little brother, and he had lost him. There was no reason for him to have yelled at Charlotte for simply wanting to help him in his time of need. Optimus turned back to Charlotte, but she had already taken off inside the house with tears forming in her eyes. "Charlotte wait," but she was already gone. "Charlotte," Optimus sighed as he regretfully laid his head, along with his hand, on the roof of the house. "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p><strong>Cybertron – Kaon, Decepticon Capital<strong>

Back on Cybertron, things weren't going so well for the autobots. They were constantly getting raided by decepticon forces, and were losing more and more warriors with each raid. Starscream had been coming up with crazy war tactics that the autobots were completely unfamiliar with. Even his fellow decepticons had no idea where he was getting these unusual strategies. Only Soundwave and Blackout had the slightest idea as to where he was getting them. The two high ranking decepticons were on their way to interrogate Starscream to get some answers.

"He's getting these tactics from that planet, isn't he?" Blackout asked the faceless bot as they headed towards the labs where Starscream was at.

Soundwave nodded. He projected a video on his face mask. It was Laserbeak's point of view. The video showed Starscream searching the entire planet. It showed that the flier was getting his ideas from the planet's war history from a satellite.

"Well, the video makes it look like he is looking for Lord Megatron, but you and I both know that's not what he's doing."

The communications officer nodded his head in agreement. But he stopped and turned to Blackout and tilted his head in question as he showed footage of the inhabitants of the planet.

Blackout stopped and looked at the footage. "They're small and don't look like much. They shouldn't be a problem so no need to worry about them." He didn't see the humans as a real threat and continued on his way to the labs.

Soundwave started walking too, but was persistent to show Blackout images and videos of all the militaries from all of the different nations. He continued showing him all of Earth's mightiest weapons and the damages that they could cause.

Blackout lifted an optic ridge. "You see them as a possible threat?"

Soundwave just shrugged.

They arrived at their destination. Blackout punched in the passcode to get into the labs. They entered to see Starscream talking with the head scientist. The scientist was huge and very well built. He had a dark purple color scheme and carried a massive gun. If his deep voice didn't scare bots off, his one red optic would have. Starscream was giving Shockwave some type of liquid when Blackout and Soundwave approached them.

"I need you to make more of the substance in that bottle, and lots of it." Starscream ordered.

Shockwave examined the liquid. "May I ask what it is, and why you need such a large amount?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you." Starscream laughed. "Just have it ready ASAP. The autobots won't know how to handle it."

"Starscream, we need to talk." Blackout sardonically interrupted.

The decepticon leader growled as he turned to Blackout, "Can't you see I'm busy! You worthless, piece of…"

Blackout interrupted again, "You don't look busy."

"What?" Starscream asked puzzled. Soundwave pointed behind him. Starscream turned and saw that Shockwave had left him and had gotten to work already, pretty much ending their discussion. "Oh, I guess in that case I can spare a few minutes of my precious time to…"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, so stop gloating about yourself." Blackout waved his hand to shut the seeker up. "Have you found any clues on Lord Megatron? Did you find out who sent that encrypted message? That was your original objective. Is any of this ringing a bell?"

Starscream was insulted. "Why you!" He raised his arm, about to attack, but Blackout was quicker. He jumped back and let Scorponok out of his carrier, giving him the advantage of two against one.

Things would have gotten ugly real quick if Shockwave and Soundwave hadn't cut in. Shockwave pulled Starscream back. "It would be illogical to have a fight in the laboratory. I suggest you take this elsewhere."

Starscream agreed with him. "True, but I have to go anyways. I have more important matters to attend too." He gave Blackout, who was being held back by Soundwave, a dirty look. Then he left.

"I can't stand that guy." Blackout didn't even bother to hide his hatred for the seeker.

"It is true that he isn't well liked, but he has his uses." Was Shockwaves 'logical' answer. Soundwave walked to the table where Shockwave was working on the liquid that Starscream had given him. Soundwave pointed to the liquid, and tilted his head asking what it was. Shockwave came up beside him. "What Starscream has given me has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom."

"What is it?" Blackout questioned as he had Scorponok return to his carrier.

"Not sure, it isn't something he found on Cybertron. But whatever it is, he plans on using it against the autobots."

* * *

><p><strong>Cybertron – Iacon, Autobot Capital<strong>

With all of the recent attacks and increasing number of casualties, Ironhide had begun to question his leadership. The autobots were looking up to him, and lately, he was failing them. Ironhide crushed the arm rests of the chair he was sitting on as he received another report from Jetfire that a supplies vessel was attacked, no survivors.

"Not again," Ironhide sighed in defeat.

"Don't be tew hird on yerself mate, its war, it hippens." The air commander tried to comfort his friend.

"I can't help it. If I had made a different decision, maybe those men would still be alive." He regretted as he looked down.

Jetfire wasn't sure how to snap him out of his current state. It was normal for a new leader to question their skills around the beginning, but there was no time for that right now. "Ironhoide, swoitch plices 'ith me an' pretend ya wer' talkin to Optoimus. Wha would ya tell 'em?"

Ironhide huffed, remembering when he actually did have this conversation with Optimus. He shook his head, laughing a little at the memory.

Jetfire noticing his attitude change then asked, "Naw, whot is he tellin ya mate?"

Ironhide looked up at his second in command. "What does he tell everybody, Jetfire?"

He smiled behind his battle mask, and he and Ironhide said in unison, "You have a lot of growing up to do."

"He sura loved ta say tha, didn't he," Jetfire recalled.

"Yeah he did," Ironhide felt better now that he snapped out of it. "But we still got a problem on our hands."

"Oh eah, tha raids. Whot ah ya thinkin mate?"

Ironhide thought about it, and he didn't like what he came up with. "Well, the decepticons have a new strategy, so there's nothing we can do about that expect to figure it out. But what I want to know is how they know exactly where the platoons are gonna be at those specific times. All of the reports I have gotten describe them as ambushes. The 'cons are in and then out. No survivors, no witnesses."

"Whot ah ya gettin at, Sah?"

"There is a spy among us," was Ironhide's gloomy reply.

"A Traita?! But who?" Jetfire was praying that Ironhide was wrong. "All tha's left are close froiends."

"I guess we were wrong about one of them." Ironhide said without much thought. "We need to find out who it is as soon as possible. So we are going to need to make a list of possible traitors and definite autobots."

Jetfire thought for a moment. "Whot if its tha new guy? Ya know, tha one we foun' in tha 'ole unda-groun'." The air commander suggested. "Whot was 'is name? Mewnshada?"

Without a seconds thought Ironhide said, "No, it's not him. Moonshadow is just a kid."

"How kin ya be so sura? Oi mean, non' of this stirted till he showed up."

"If the kid is the spy, he is doing a lousy job. I think even an amateur spy would know to wait a while before causing trouble."

Jetfire was giving Ironhide a suspicious look. He sighed before he told him, "Ironhoide, Oi know ya gotta soft spot for kids, an' tha's why ya probibly don't think it's 'em. Not all kids are gewd."

He exhaled deeply since he knew he couldn't change the air commander's mind, "Fine, he'll be put on the list of suspects."

"Who else is on tha loist?"

"On the suspect list? Everybody except you, Jazz, Ratchet, Mia, and me."

"Tha's a boig loist. It not gonna be fun sniffin 'em out."

"Regardless, let's get to work"

* * *

><p>Charlotte woke up late the next morning. She wasn't feeling very motivated to do anything. She wanted to just lie in bed, but her stomach protested. On her way to the kitchen, still in her American flag pajama pants and pink tank top, she saw that her father was still asleep from what seemed to be a late night. Tony was most definitely still asleep since that was all he did during the day. "He needs to stop staying up all night playing video games," she said to herself as she passed by his room. Anna Ire wasn't home, but that was normal. She was always at work and would sometimes be gone for weeks at a time.<p>

As Charlotte pillaged the kitchen for breakfast, Leo was outside debating with Optimus about what to do now. Optimus had called Leonardo to him because he needed the little IPod's help.

"You want me to get her out here?" Leo asked his creator. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to talk to you, Big Bot."

Optimus calmly breathed out. "I know, heck I don't even want to talk to me for what I did. But I need you to just get her out here so I can talk to her and apologize." Optimus kept his gaze on Leo, and got an idea. "Maybe you can help me even more."

"Oh joy…" was the blue and silver bot's sarcastic reply.

Leo found Charlotte in her room planning a date with Netflix. He kindly knocked at the foot of her door to announce his presence. She turned her head in his direction as she was putting her hair in messy bun. She indicated for him to come in with her head. "What's up, Leo?"

"Um," Leo wasn't sure how to start. "I'm just gonna tell ya how it is, Optimus wants to talk to you. He won't take up much of your time, but he understands if you don't want to talk to him."

Charlotte moaned. That's what she thought was the reason why Leo was there.

"Say no more, I'll go tell him." Leo turned on his heel and was on his way out.

"No, wait, I'm coming." Charlotte said as she put on her dino feet slippers and followed her friend outside to the backyard. As she walked out, she saw Optimus standing there looking down with his hands relaxed behind him. She walked all the way to the tire swing that he was standing next too. "You wanted to talk," she asked mockingly as she sat in the swing and started swinging herself. She hadn't gotten over about the previous night.

Optimus turned his sad gaze to her. "Charlotte…I want to apologize for my actions last night. I was way out of line. I should not have raised my voice at you. I let my frustration get the better of me and did not act with honor. This is a big deal and reflects poorly on me. I shocked and scared you. I will work to not repeat this behavior by speaking more softly and calmly next time rather than justifying my ability to treat you disrespectfully and lash out at you."

Charlotte stopped swinging for she was dumbstruck. She guessed that he was going to apologize, but she felt like crap now for ever getting mad at him and his words. She was in for more surprises, since he still wasn't done.

"Charlotte," there was a lot of regret in his voice. From behind his back, he revealed that he was holding red and blue flowers. There was one white one in the middle of red and blue flowers. "I'm sorry." He took a knee and held out the flowers to her.

That's when she heard music. Leo had been playing "Hard to Say I'm Sorry / Get Away" by Chicago the whole time. She listened to the words.

_Hold me now. It's hard for me to say I'm sorry. I just want you to stay._

_After all that we've been through, I will make it up to you. I promise to._

_And after all that's been said and done,_

_You're just the part of me I can't let go. _

"Dang," Charlotte started after she got her thoughts together, "you really know how to apologize." She reached out and grabbed the flowers and smelled them. He had gotten them from somewhere in the forest.

"Well, I wanted you to know that I am sincerely sorry for what I've done." After Optimus spoke, Leo took that as his queue to start playing "What I've Done" by Linkin Park. It wasn't long before they heard a piano playing in the background of their conversation.

"So…why so many flowers?" Charlotte asked. She was holding fifteen flowers. Seven of them red, and seven of them blue, with one white flower.

"Fifteen flowers means 'I am truly sorry, please forgive me' according to the World Wide Web. I chose red for it represents respect and courage. The color blue signifies peace. And white symbolizes innocence, purity, and honor." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, "Plus, those colors are my color scheme, so they would remind you of me. You know, as an added bonus."

_So let mercy come_

_And wash away_

_What I've done_

Charlotte laughed a little, "True, and I definitely forgive you. I'd be a jerk if I didn't, oh, and thanks for the flowers." She wholeheartedly thanked as she smelled them again. She had never gotten flowers before…

Optimus smiled his small smile. He then laid on the ground on his front. His top half out in the open, while his bottom half was in the forest. He started gently pushing the tire swing, just like they did so many months ago.

But then Charlotte pulled her face out of the flowers. "So now that we are talking again, mind telling me exactly what happened last night? Like why you were so mad. I mean what happened while we were in that cave?"

The Prime sighed, "Of course." He continued to tell her everything that had happened outside the cave. He admitted that he had been afraid that night, and he was really stressed out about still being stuck on Earth. His autobots needed a Prime, and they currently didn't have one. The attack had added to his distress and that was part of the reason why he lashed out. Optimus explained to her how the humans were prepared to capture him, but they had underestimated him. He was lucky. "It would seem as if they have encountered my kind before, but how could they?"

Charlotte thought about it for a moment, "There are energon stocks on Earth. Maybe a human saw one of the bots who put them there and it is documented somewhere with the government. Then they have at least an idea of what they are up against, you know?"

"That makes sense." He paused, "why didn't I think of that…"

"We're not all perfect, Prime." Charlotte said from within her flowers that she was smelling again. She stopped smelling for a second since she remembered that her dad was home. "We'll talk later. My dad is home so you might wanna skedaddle."

"Again, why didn't I think of that…?" Optimus humbly said as he got up from the ground.

Before the Cybertronian left Charlotte asked, "Hey, can I come by later? To hang out and talk?"

"Of course."

* * *

><p>In the ruins of what was once a mighty city on Cybertron, a cloaked mech hid in the shadows. He was waiting for someone, but he didn't have to wait long. He heard jet engines approaching. He watched as he saw the seeker transform and land gracefully. The moons of Cybertron providing the only light.<p>

"I'm here…and I know you are too, autobot." The seeker challenged.

The decepticon was suddenly startled, for he had a knife to his neck. The cloaked mech revealed himself. "You know Starscream, your engines are pretty loud. Anyone can hear you from miles away."

Starscream smirked, "I did that on purpose." He shoved the autobot off of him, "Now, what information do you have on the autobots?"

The light blue eyed autobot gave the decepticon leader a few data pads. "Those are the routes that Ironhide is going to use to transport the energon. Though I am not sure when he is going to transport it. He is keeping things on the down low, courtesy of all of the raids."

"And he doesn't suspect that there is a traitor among the ranks?" Starscream asked his spy.

"No. And if he does, I know how to keep him off my trail."

"Excellent…"

* * *

><p><strong>Hi Readers! Yeah, my bad for not updating sooner. Kinda lost the 'drive' for the story for awhile there...but back on now ;) <strong>

**I do not own Transformers, Hasbro does, so they get all of the TF credit. But Charlotte, her family, and her friends are all my characters. Oh, and Moonshadow is too**

**Oh hey, Shout out to my ah-mazing editor! She works hard and makes my story better, love ya sis 3**


	11. Chapter 11: The Hunter

**Wow, I'm surprised that no one caught how Charlotte's mama is working with Timber Wolves...oh well.**

**Oh and just for the record, this story has the characters from the Bay-Universe, TFP, and TF Cybertron. All the autobots and d-cons from those universes are used, just so you readers have an idea who is in da story.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 11: The Hunter<strong>

It had been a year since Optimus had apologized to Charlotte. The year had proved to be a rather uneventful one. The only major events consisted of Charlotte starting high school, Tony getting a car, and Optimus getting weekly checkups from Charlotte and her friends. These 'checkups' comprised of unwanted car washes, robot mode included, and the teenagers constantly having Optimus rearrange his place so it was more comfortable. He had protested at first; but eventually gave in to the teenagers' peer pressure. Apart from those events, Charlotte's year as a fifteen-year-old was quiet, which was preferred by the Prime. He was able to stay off the military grid by sticking to familiar roads that hadn't caused trouble in the past. He even made sure to avoid popular government places, such as national parks and monuments. He thought it was a successful year, the only downer to him was the week before Charlotte had started high school. The family was on the annual camping trip again and Optimus was looking forward to hiking with Charlotte and investigating his crash site. He didn't get to do what he planned. Given Charlotte's history of getting lost and subsequently discovering an alien robot, her parents banned her from leaving their sight on that camping trip.

But all of that was in the past, and this year's camping trip was going to be way better than the previous year. Charlotte's parents would let her go hiking so long as Tony went with her. That didn't hinder Optimus' plan, being how Tony already knew about him, he could just come along with them.

"Alright guys, let's not make this hike too long. I'm not a nature freak like you guys."

"Ah, come on Tony! This'll be fun!" Charlotte giggled excitedly as she was being lifted up by Optimus. He put her on his shoulder. "Tony, come on up here!" Tony sighed an 'alright' and then he was also lifted by Optimus and put on his other shoulder.

Leo jumped out of Charlotte's backpack. "Okie dokie, let's get this party started!" Leo said after he had climbed to the top of Optimus's head.

The Prime huffed, thinking of how ridiculous he must look with a human on each shoulder and a little transformer dancing on his head. But he had learned to swallow his pride since his arrival on Earth. Optimus took off in the direction of his crash site from two years ago. On approach, he decided to send out an EMP; he didn't want to risk being detected if the government left any traps. The trip wasn't a quiet one with Tony and Charlotte having their sibling rivalries and Leo blasting music the entire time according to the mood of the conversation. So Optimus was more than relieved when they reached their destination and set them all on the ground. "How strange…" Optimus stated to no one in particular.

"Yeah it is," Charlotte agreed as she looked around. The crater that Optimus had made when he landed was totally filled in with dirt. The entire area looked as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever occurred there, "Weird…" As a safety precaution, Optimus did several scans of the area. His scans picked up two metal devices that had not been there the day he landed. He zoomed in on one, and saw that it was some type of machine. Judging by the antennas and little satellite dish, it was a detector of some sort. It was currently offline, most likely due to the EMP he sent out earlier. Optimus silently thanked his life experiences for making him so well prepared.

"Well I guess the Feds were here and cleaned up the mess. Oh well…" Tony wasn't at all bothered about the situation. He didn't see a reason to be worried, there really wasn't anything that could be done. He decided to change the wary atmosphere. "Hey shorty! I bet I could climb up Optimus faster than you!" Tony challenged.

Charlotte looked at Optimus for permission. He just shrugged, giving her the okay. "You're on!" She and her brother dashed for Optimus, but just as they got close enough to climb, he started walking backwards at a fast pace.

"I never said I was gonna make this easy for you two." He smirked as he continued to keep his distance.

"Leave it to you to make things difficult." Charlotte laughed. She picked up her pace and reached Optimus right before Tony did. Optimus stopped walking so his moving parts wouldn't hurt them as they climbed him. Tony's advantage was height, so his reach was greater than his sister's. He was covering a lot of ground. But since Charlotte was with Optimus more, she knew where all the little kinks were. She also forgot to mention to Tony that she was used to climbing Optimus, but normally she would climb him when he was walking. It just made things easier for her when Optimus stood still. She was soon at his shoulder, but didn't stop there. Tony barely got to Optimus's shoulder when he heard his sister's voice from above, "I win!" she cried mockingly, yet victoriously from her crisscrossed position on Optimus's head.

"What!?" Tony was clearly shocked and out of breath. "Why do I get the feeling that you played me, shorty?" Tony was shaking his head.

"Maybe," Charlotte replied guiltily. She slid down and helped Tony onto the giant, red shoulder.

Leo didn't help. He laughed, "Ha ha! You got beat by a girl!"

Optimus did what looked like an 'eye roll'. He has picked up a lot of human habits since his arrival to earth. Leo had yet to take Optimus's 'growing up' advice. "Alright alright, let's get you kids back before your parents start to get worried." He looked at Charlotte, "Or before we find any unexpected visitors from the sky." He started walking away from his crash site.

"Hey now, that was awesome!" she argued. She and Tony were now sitting on the edge, letting their legs swing. "Besides if we do find another Cybertronian, maybe he or she could be Tony's protector. That would be cool…"

"I don't need protecting," exclaimed Tony. He thought for a second about what Charlotte had just said and replied, "Wait, you protect her? From what?"

"Not from anything, really," Optimus said matter-of-factly as he maneuvered between two trees. "When I first got here, I decided to take Charlotte as my charge. Since she has helped me adjust to this planet, I wanted to protect her in turn."

"Though I'm never really in danger. I'm not an 'alien bad news' magnet y'know." Charlotte winked at her older brother. He just half heartedly shoved her with his shoulder.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Cybertron<strong>_

Well actually, it's more like one of Cybertron's moons, for that was the new Autobot headquarters. The past two years had taken a heavy toll on the small autobot army. Year one: they lost their leader to the stars and had to adjust to a new chain of command. Year two: the autobots lost Iacon to the decepticons thanks to the spy that Ironhide had yet to sniff out. The attack happened right at the changing of shifts, so it was no mere coincidence. And the autobot leader did not believe in coincidence, so the attack proved that his spy theory was correct. During the brutal attack, he decided to retreat to one of the planet's moons, that way he could keep a better optic on everyone. The only one allowed to leave was Bumblebee. Ironhide would send the scout to Cybertron to try and find a better place to call HQ.

Jetfire was hesitant to send the young scout. "Are ya sura tha traita isn't 'em?" His question earned him one of Ironhide's intimidating 'are you serious' looks, making the air commander feel stupid for even asking.

"You honestly think Bee is the spy?" Ironhide's stare was unwavering. "Come on, Jetfire, the kid got his voice box ripped out by Megatron himself."

Jazz walked in to hear the last part of the conversation. He saw how Jetfire looked down in the gutters and decided to help him out. "Yo, take it easy. The mech is just being cautious."

Ironhide looked at Jazz, just to see a big cheesy smile on his face. "I guess you're right." He turned to the green mech, "Sorry Jetfire" Ironhide didn't see the lit up expression on the flier's face, for it was hidden behind his mask. But Jetfire excused himself, and left the command center. Ironhide looked back to Jazz, "So…why you here?" He never bothered to be formal with Jazz; they were too close of friends and it would be downright weird.

"Oh, I'm just here ta update the spy list. All I got are more definite autobots for ya. "

"Well shoot, let's hear 'em. And don't forget the reasoning for each."

"Okay, well we already know you, Chromia, Ratch, Jet, and I are the good guys, just to make that clear. From the sounds of it, Bumblebee was added to that list with the whole voice box thing. I'm adding Prowl being how he was supposed to be second in command, but his ninja training got in the way. We both know he is on our side."

"True, and he was always one for justice. I mean he was a cop before the war." Ironhide added.

"Yep, I also want to add Hotshot and Sideswipe. Bee and I race them all the time, so we talk a lot. They've never given us any doubt about them being autobots. They're just bots who wanna kick the decepticon's afts!"

"That's not enough to put them on the list. Hotshot doesn't always think things through and is impulsive. His body works faster than his mind, not all that trust worthy." Ironhide growled.

"Yeah, that be true, but his spark is in the right place." Jazz did know Hotshot had a record of disobeying orders, but his reasons were always understandable. _Well…for the most part anyways,_ Jazz thought to himself. "What about Sideswipe?"

Ironhide felt bad for the skilled, silver mech. Ever since his twin brother heroically perished in battle, he had been working harder. Trying to make himself better, faster, stronger so that no other autobot had to die. The Iacon attack really hadn't helped. The decepticons had sprayed him, Prowl, and Wheeljack with some liquid. Nothing happened at first, but the Cons were able to drop the temperature so low that it was dangerous for Cybertronians to be out in it for long. The three autobots hit with the liquid instantly froze and they were helpless. Ironhide had called a retreat after he saw them freeze, not knowing what was wrong with them. The autobots retrieved their comrades, and retreated to one of Cybertron's moons. When they had all defrosted, Wheeljack had said he would go all wrecker on the cons and give them hell. Prowl thought he was overreacting, but he was pretty shaken up for a guy who always kept his cool. Sideswipe was just as furious as Wheeljack, but he handled his problem by constantly moving to stay warm. "I'll talk to Jetfire about those two. They both have interesting cases. Who's next?"

"Oh right, I'm pretty sure Landmine is one of us. He is one of the older bots that we've always gone to when we aren't sure what to do. Plus, he trained more than half our army to be excellent fighters. Heck, he probably raised half our army!" Jazz laughed.

Ironhide shared the laugh with him. Everything he said was true, Landmine was one of them. "Alright, that it?" he asked. It was getting late and he was anxious to catch some recharge with Chromia; he hadn't seen her all day now that he thought about it…

"Nope, one more. Bulkhead should be on the list. Yeah, he's not the most graceful mech but-"

Ironhide cut Jazz off. "No! He and Wheeljack are high on the suspect list. They were both wreckers; definitely not the trustworthy type. Some of them even went con after a while. It's not happening Jazz, he is not going on the list." Ironhide stated aggressively.

"Well alrighty then!" a little surprised by his friend's outbreak, "somebody gots trust issues." Jazz received one of Ironhide's irritated looks. "Okay okay, calm down, but yeah…that was it for now. All the other bots have itsy-bitsy question marks next to their names. But hey, since we know Prowl is definitely with us, he can use his awesome police skillz and help us out. Uh huh, yeah!" Jazz was stoked that his buddy was no longer a suspect.

"Just make sure we don't tip the spy off that we are on to him." Ironhide commanded.

"Or her! We don't really know if it's a mech or femme. For all we know, we got a bad girl on our hands!" Jazz chuckled. _That would be fun!_ He thought.

"Get out…"

Jazz started heading for the exit. "For all we know, it's your girl that's the bad girl!" Jazz booked it out the command center as he heard Ironhide's cannons power up. "I'm out!"

Ironhide sat back down, shuttering his optics while rubbing his forehead, rather frustrated. His hunt for the traitor was taking a heavy toll on him. He didn't hear the light footsteps approaching him from behind. He was about to hit the bot in the gut and flip him over when he felt it touch him, but relaxed when he realized the touch was soft. He let baby blue, silver arms snake around his neck and upper chest from behind. A playful "gotcha" was whispered into his audio receptor. Ironhide growled playfully back and pulled his assailant onto his lap. "Now I gotcha." He purred.

"So Jazz thinks I'm a bad girl. Lets go to our private quarters and prove him right." Chromia was quite playful at the moment.

Ironhide was happy to oblige. He was about to reply when they heard someone clear their throat loudly. The couple looked towards the doorway to see the two youngest bots, Moonshadow and Bumblebee standing there. Bumblebee was looking down, blushing. Moonshadow had a slightly disgusted look on his face, which was interesting being how he was one of those bots who always had a poker face on and never let his emotions get in the way of things. He was the one that cleared his throat, and he was the one who broke the awkward silence. "Um…commanders…get a room."

Bumblebee tried to stifle a laugh, which wasn't all that successful. Moonshadow had guts of steel to speak to his superiors like that! And not just any superiors, but the toughest autobots of all time!

Chromia laughed at how Ironhide was so embarrassed. "Right, we'll be going. Night boys." She grabbed her mate's hand and led them to their room for the start of an already interesting night.

* * *

><p>Charlotte's second year of high school was harder than the first, mainly due to the heavier homework load. She made sure to balance her time well so she could be active in sports, keep a high GPA, and still have a social life. She had great stamina and was a fast runner, so her coaches always had her in a sport. She kept her GPA so high mainly due to her tutor. Whenever she didn't quite understand something, he would automatically know what needed to be worked on. He constantly kept her on her toes. He was also a great study partner. Her private tutor knew everything due to his endless accessibility to, well, everything. His advance alien technology was quite helpful, but Optimus never gave her the answers. He made sure she understood it inside and out.<p>

"I got the best tutor in the world!" Charlotte hugged Optimus's hand that was resting beside her. "It makes so much more sense now! Like, I understand most of what the teacher is saying, but we could've gone into more detail in class so we wouldn't be as confused." Charlotte turned and leaned on the giant blue hand that she had just hugged, and looked up at Optimus. "Thanks!"

"It is always a pleasure to help you grow in your learning." Optimus was sitting at his stone table, with Charlotte sitting in front of him, his arms surrounding her. After school they would drop Leo off at the house, since he was a major distraction, while Charlotte grabbed a snack. Then they would go to Optimus' place and Charlotte would work on her homework while Optimus worked on a project of his own. She would work cross-legged on the table top. If she needed help, Optimus would come over behind her and look over her shoulder to see what was wrong. Charlotte would explain what she was working on and why she needed help. Optimus would pull up a stone chair and work out the problem with her.

Optimus was very smart when it came to math and science. The only subjects he had to research were History and English, those subjects had very little in common with what he already knew. He found Earth's history fascinating, and absolutely loved to help Charlotte out when it came to that subject. Charlotte thought it was funny how Optimus liked to know how nations won wars, but he completely hated Shakespeare.

"I barely understand how humans talk today with all this sarcasm. And then there's this guy who's just like 'frag it, ima confuse y'all more' unbelievable."

Charlotte could never hide a smile when she heard Optimus talk so freely. She noticed he rarely ever showed his true colors. He always put up a military commander front, only letting tiny bits out here and there. Charlotte also noticed how he was only this way when they were alone. When he was around Leo or Tony he acted like a protective big brother who would take a joke, but not make one back. Around her friends, he acted like a watchful babysitter. He was always polite, but seemed like he would rather be somewhere else. _Probably up in space,_ Charlotte thought. _Wait! Space!_ She jumped up, remembering something her science teacher told the class.

"Hey Optimus! I just remembered something really cool! Wanna know what it is?"

"Since it looks like you're dying to tell me," Optimus was only sarcastic with Charlotte. "What is it?" he asked.

"There's gonna be a meteor shower tonight! It's supposed to be in this area around the hours of one to three. I really, really want to see it!"

The news intrigued the Prime. "Then you should. Just let your parents know and I'm sure they'll let you go on the roof of your house and watch it." He was thinking about watching it himself. He never had time on Cybertron to just stop, and look up at the stars.

"Yeah I'm sure they would let me, but I wanna watch it with you." She said sweetly.

"Why?"

"Well you're from space, I thought it would be cool to watch a meteor shower with my alien friend. Plus, I'm pretty sure you wanna watch it too so why not together." She smiled.

Optimus let a small smile form. "Okay then, I'll pick you up at 12:50."

"Sweet! I'll bring snacks!" She yelled as jumped up with a fist in the air. "Well I'll see ya later, bye!" She went home and told Leo what she and Optimus had talked about and invited him to come too.

"Nah, I'll pass. I don't wanna wake up at that time; I need my beauty sleep." Leo declined from Charlotte's lap top that was currently in the kitchen. He was looking at the new IPods for a possible upgrade he could scan.

"Alright drama queen, what about you Tony?" She asked her brother who was looking for something to eat in the fridge.

"No, I'm gonna pass on this one too. I have to get up early since Ima help dad out tomorrow. Maybe next time," he never bothered to pull his head out of the fridge as he answered.

"You guys are lame." Charlotte packed some candy in a backpack, and put a blanket in it too, along with a small radio she could plug her phone into. She went to bed early that night just so she wouldn't be so tired later on.

Right at 12:50 a.m., Charlotte heard a tapping on her window. _Well isn't he very punctual_, she thought sleepily. She slowly sat up, stretched, and yawned. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw her room was lit up with a faint yellow light. She knew the light source was Optimus's optics. Charlotte quickly went to the bathroom to wash the sleep out of her eyes and rinse out her mouth in case she had bad breath. She then picked up the backpack that had the goods, her phone, and went to open the window. She climbed into Optimus's waiting hand, and they headed off into a part of the forest that had enough space for Optimus to lay down. It didn't take them long, and before Charlotte knew it, they were in an open grass clearing.

"I calculated that this area will give us an excellent view. And it just happens to be a very comfortable spot." Optimus said as he put Charlotte on the ground.

"Okie dokie, you go ahead and get comfortable. Ima set up," She pulled the little radio out of the backpack and plugged her phone into it. She went to her music, and put the 'Zoned Out' playlist on shuffle. Soon, a calm melody started playing. "Boo yeah!" She heard Optimus chuckle. She looked around and saw the autobot leader lying flat on his back. He had one leg propped up and one of his hands was behind his head, while the other resting at his side. He looked comfortable. "Hey, scooch over."

Optimus breathed out, "right," but didn't move. Charlotte climbed up his side, and in no time, was standing on top his chest. She walked over the blue glass on his chest and stopped in the middle. She laid down and mimicked Optimus's position.

"This is comfortable." Charlotte admitted. She was looking up, waiting to see a shooting star and listening to the music.

"Yes…it is," Optimus agreed. He was finally starting to relax when he heard a howl off in the distance. He knew there was nothing to worry about, but as a safety precaution for Charlotte, he laid the hand that wasn't behind his head over Charlotte in a protective manner.

Charlotte laughed at his security, "Don't worry, the big bad wolf won't get us." But she did appreciate his actions. His hand blocked out the wind and kept her warm. She even held onto one of his fingers, just so he would know she wanted him to keep his hand there. "What time is it?" she asked since they still hadn't seen anything in the sky.

Optimus check his internal clock. "It is 1:10."

"Aw, come on," Charlotte complained.

"Be patient, little one." Optimus thought of something to help pass the time. "Are you familiar with constellations, Charlotte?"

"Only a couple," she sighed. But she welcomed the distraction to help pass the time. She looked around the night sky. "Oh! See that one there?" She pointed up, and Optimus tried his best to see what she was pointing at from his angle. "That's the Big Dipper, the little one gots ta be around here somewhere…"

"Is that it?"

Charlotte twisted around so she could see where he was pointing, only, he wasn't pointing at all. He was just looking up. "It might help if you pointed it out oh smart one." She turned back around and when she looked up, she saw the Little Dipper. "Oh, found it!" She looked around some more, and saw another familiar constellation. "Hey, that one right there, that's Orion."

"What!?" Optimus asked surprised. If he translated 'Orion' into his language it…was…his…

"Orion the Great Hunter, it's a constellation. Why do you sound so surprised?" Charlotte asked, curious by his outburst.

"It's nothing," Optimus replied, the shock wearing off.

"Nah, come on. I've never seen you so shocked before. 'Orion' hit a nerve." Charlotte was lying on her stomach, looking up at Optimus, trying to read his expressions.

"I don't want to talk about it." Optimus replied dryly, his expression stern.

"You never wanna talk about these things." Charlotte sat up fully now, Optimus's hand falling to his side again. "Whenever the subject turns to you and your personal stuff, you change it instantly. It's always either about my life and my problems, or the war on Cybertron. You barely talk about your friends, and when you do, they're one word answers. Are you like this with them?"

Optimus was looking down at her. He saw the frustration in her eyes. "Yes, I am always like this, around everybody."

"But why? It's not healthy. Don't you let anyone in?" Charlotte was trying to figure out why he acted the way he did. From the sounds of it, even around his so called 'friends' he acts very professional, pretty much the way he acts with her friends.

"As a Prime I cannot let anyone in." Optimus pulled Charlotte out of her thoughts. "It is my duty to lead my people to the best of my ability. Without any personal attachments, I can fulfill that duty without additional problems." Charlotte looked down, surprised, she never thought about it that way, but Optimus continued. "I dare not get close to any of my troops. It hurts enough as it is when they perish in battle, but if I had a strong connection to them and they die, I would be too distracted by their death. I need to lead with a clear head." Charlotte looked back up when she heard him stop talking. She saw how sad he looked. "But…I am not perfect. I do have close friends in my army. And I know that if they were to die, I would be unfit for duty…" Optimus trailed off.

With the silence, Charlotte could hear a new song begin to play. She heard the soft strumming of a guitar. "You know," she started; wanting to help her friend, "on Earth, you're technically not on duty. If you ever wanted to talk," she stopped. She saw a shooting star reflect off Optimus's optic.

"Look Charlotte," Optimus picked her up and laid her back on her back. She held his finger so his hand would stay where it was. They both were silent as they watched the meteor shower. Charlotte watched, and listened to the lyrics of the music.

_Is your favorite color blue?  
>Do you always tell the truth?<br>Do you believe in outer-space?  
>Now I'm learning you<em>

_Is your skin as tanned as mine?_  
><em>Does your hair flow sideways?<em>  
><em>Did someone take a portion of your heart?<em>  
><em>Now I'm learning you<em>

_And if you don't mind_  
><em>Can you tell me<em>  
><em>All your hopes and fears<em>  
><em>And everything that you believe in<em>  
><em>Would you make a difference in the world<em>  
><em>I'd love for you to take me to a deeper conversation<em>  
><em>Only you can make me<em>

_I've let my guard down for you_  
><em>And in time you will too<em>

_And if you don't mind_  
><em>Can you tell me<em>  
><em>All your hopes and fears<em>  
><em>And everything that you believe in<em>  
><em>Would you make a difference in the world<em>  
><em>I'd love for you to take me to a deeper conversation<em>  
><em>Only you can make me<em>

The song soon ended, replaced by some piano song. But Charlotte wanted to have a deeper conversation with the Prime. "Optimus…what does Orion really mean to you?" she quietly questioned.

Optimus wanted to open up, so badly, but he had not shared his story with anyone; not even his mentor Alpha Trion. "I can't Charlotte. But please, try to enjoy the meteor shower. And forget I told you anything."

"Easier said than done." Charlotte mumbled. The sky was being lit up beautifully. Optimus had chosen a nice spot, if he would only open up…another song caught her attention.

_Game after game we play  
>Our twisted snakes and ladders<br>Time for the rules to change  
>You're in my arteries<br>You're bolting through my body  
>I'll never be the same<em>

_So why won't you_  
><em>Talk to me?<em>  
><em>Why won't you just talk to me?<em>  
><em>There's a universe inside your head<em>  
><em>Constellations of the things you left unsaid<em>  
><em>Talk to me<em>  
><em>Or watch me leave<em>

Charlotte was tempted to just get up and leave. Things had gotten weird between her and Optimus.

_Wave after wave of your meaningless conversation  
>Changing the subject again<br>Are you ever gonna wake up?  
>Are you ever gonna wake up?<br>Or are you gonna let me just walk away?_

_All you need to do is talk to me_  
><em>Why won't you just talk to me?<em>  
><em>There's a universe inside your head<em>  
><em>Constellations of the things you left unsaid<em>  
><em>Talk to me<em>

_You will bite your tongue until it bleeds_  
><em>Hanging by the skin of your own teeth<em>  
><em>Silence is your loudest scream<em>  
><em>I don't know why you're hiding<em>  
><em>You will bite your tongue until it bleeds<em>  
><em>Hanging by the skin of your own teeth<em>  
><em>Silence is your loudest scream<em>  
><em>I don't know why you're hiding<em>

She didn't know why Optimus was hiding. She also couldn't wrap her head around the thought of never talking about anything personal to anyone. It can't be healthy to bottle up all your feelings; eventually it explodes. Charlotte heard the chorus play a few more times, but then the last part of the song played. Optimus was also listening.

_Game after game we play  
>Our twisted snakes and ladders<br>Time for the rules to change _

Charlotte was a little surprised when she was suddenly picked up and brought to Optimus's face. "Charlotte," she looked at him and saw the determination on his face. "Orion…is my true name. It is a name I have not been called since my childhood, since the night of my brother's death…"

* * *

><p><strong>The songs used are "Deeper Conversation" by Yuna and "Talk to Me" by Lauren Aquilina. Next chapie gonna have Optimus's troubled past revealed! yea! And thanks to everyone that is reading this story and leaving awesome reviews! Thanks guys! <strong>


	12. Chapter 12: Origins

**That you to everyone who leaves reviews! It makes me work faster to get another chap up :) I will do my best to respond to all your reviews to just so you know what you say matters. Thx guys!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 12: Origins<strong>

Charlotte's mouth hung open in disbelief. She hadn't expected Optimus to suddenly open up, and reveal something so horrible about his past. Optimus was looking at Charlotte with unsure optics, wondering if he should continue or not. Charlotte closed her mouth, and nodded, wanting him to keep going.

He sat up and put Charlotte on his shoulder. Turning to her, he asked, "Do you want the short or long version?"

Charlotte scooted closer to his head, and leaned her head against his in a comforting manner. "Whatever you're ready to tell."

Optimus let out a nervous sigh. He would give her enough details just so she got the general idea of the story. "Heh, where to begin…"

"Why not with your brother?" Charlotte suggested.

"Alright. For starters, the first thing I remember about him was my carrier, my mother, telling me his name." Optimus looked down, disappointed in himself. "I don't remember his full name. In human terms, I would have been about two years old at the time; and he had a long, complicated name for a bot my age. So…I gave him a nickname that held part of his name."

"What was it?"

Optimus paused, letting the memory of when he first met his little brother come to mind. Smiling, he continued. "Tronus…I called him Tronus. My carrier even started calling him that, liking the nickname. The only bot who did call him by his real name was our sire, my father."

"What was your family like?"

"I always saw my brother as small, but I'm sure he was average size for a sparkling his age. He followed me around everywhere, wanting to be just like me, even though I always encouraged him to be his own bot. He always tried to get us to smile. He was primarily silver, but had red parts throughout his body. His optics were a unique shade of blue and green." Optimus stopped to see if Charlotte was keeping up. She was deep into the story. "And for the record, I did not always look the way I do now. Back then, I was primarily shades of blue with the secondary color of silver. But over the years, I dropped silver and took up red in honor of my brother."

Charlotte giggled. "You must have looked way different then." Optimus nodded. "So what did your parents look like?"

He decided to use human terms from here on forward, so it was easier for Charlotte to understand. "My mother had bright blue optics. She was very loving, but extremely overprotective. I didn't know why at the time, but I do now…She was mainly white and silver, with shades of pinks and reds throughout her body. But I was never very fond of my father, for he was never there. I only saw him twice a year. What I do remember about him was his authoritative voice, and the way he towered over my mother. He was a tall, well-built mech. He was never mean or anything, I just don't think he knew how to be a father; but he tried his best to be one. My father's color scheme was largely dark blue, but had small areas of white and green. His optics were a pretty dark gold color, almost orange...He would always look at Tronus and me and say, 'You have a lot of growing up to do.' It was a little saying of his…"

"I guess you got his eyes then. And I was wondering where you picked up that little saying."

"It would seem that way, yes." Optimus agreed.

Charlotte thought he had a nice little family. From the sounds of things, Optimus's mother was the one who raised him and his brother. And then there was this father who seemed like he cared. So far, she didn't see the tragedy of the story. "So how did things go downhill?"

Optimus spoke as if he was far off, somewhere else. "I would have been around the age of five, Tronus three, when it happened. My family spent most of my childhood moving; never staying in one place for too long. I had never put much thought into it; I didn't know we were hiding from something. But it was just a normal day, like any other. I was eating with Tronus in the 'kitchen', so to speak, while our mom was in the 'living room' watching the news; shocked about the recent death of the Prime. There was a sudden knock at the door, and that should have been a red flag right there because we didn't really know that many people. As a precaution, whenever there was a knock at the door, my mother would have Tronus and I hide in a vent. When we heard the knock, my brother and I stopped eating and hid, while my mother went to see who it was…" Charlotte was watching his face, and she noticed how Optimus looked afraid, most likely from him reliving the memory. "Right as she opened the door, a bunch of mechs came rushing in and tackled my mom. I wanted to cry out for her, but knew I shouldn't, so I kept Tronus from doing so instead. I recognized the two mechs that pinned my mom as bounty hunters, since they had all sorts of trophies on them. But the other four looked different. They seemed highly dignified, like they were too good to get their hands dirty. It turns out that they were part of the High Council of Cybertron."

"What's that?" Charlotte asked uneasily. She wasn't liking where the story was going, or these sudden Council dudes and their hired dogs.

"The government on Cybertron is made up of a caste system, which is a lot like a pyramid. At the top is the Prime, then the High Council, followed by the 1st class, then the middle/working class, and finally, the slums. The Prime and High Council would be part of the 1st class, technically. The social classes were made by the High Council centuries ago, when there was no current Prime. They had needed some way to establish order, so they made the caste system. Once there was a Prime again, one would think the Prime had all the power. But in reality, the Council was the one always pulling all the strings, so to speak. It seemed that after that, throughout history, whenever the Prime and Council disagreed, the Prime would suddenly die and be replaced with a Prime that would follow the Council's wishes. That was fine WAY back in the day when the Council wasn't corrupt and represented the people. But over time, that changed, and the Council grew greedy and desired only what was best for themselves."

"Oh…well I definitely don't like them."

"Yeah," Optimus mumbled gloomily. "Well, back to the past. One of the Chancellors started questioning my mom. The others called him Chancellor Incursus, and he kept on asking her where my brother and I were. She kept denying we even existed. Councilor Incursus wasn't convinced. He saw the two small servings of unfinished energon at the kitchen table. He knew we were there." Optimus was slightly growling now, "He started hurting our mom, trying to get us to come out of hiding. Tronus and I watched as the bounty hunters did unspeakable things to our mother." Optimus didn't want to tell Charlotte that he and his little brother watched their mother get raped, something that we was totally against since that day. "The Chancellors finally grew tired, and after a while they finally stopped torturing her. Chancellor Incursus gave my mom one last chance to tell him where we were, but she refused. Even till this day I have his face _burned_ into my processor. As he stabbed her through the spark, he said the High Council motto…"The Needs of the Many, Outweigh the Needs of the Few". I turned Tronus away, shielding him from seeing Incursus beheading our mother." Optimus felt Charlotte crawl from his shoulder to under his neck. She curled up against his neck and rubbed her head against him in a consoling manner. But Optimus continued, his voice a lot louder since Charlotte was closer. She felt vibrations whenever Optimus spoke. "The men left, waiting for us to come out to our mother, but I knew better. Instead Tronus and I continued through the vent and snuck out. We used the sewers, not the best place for kids. We came up from underground to find ourselves in the neighboring city, Kaon."

"The decepticon capital?" Charlotte thought the name sounded familiar.

"Yes, but it was just a slum of a city at the time. Black-marketing, illegal fighting, the whole thing. But we were five and three, so how were we supposed to know it was a 'bad news' city? Anyways, we only lasted there for about a week. We would never sleep in the same building twice and were always moving throughout the city. We tried stealing food, but that didn't work out. I don't know how long we could have made it on our own, but we never found out. It was at night when it happened. We were about twenty stories up in an abandon sky scrapper. And I was fighting to stay awake, for I would stay up all night on watch duty. I would find time during the day to sleep, but I hadn't been able to that day. Tronus had offered to stay up for me, but I was cranky from sleep loss and yelled at him that I did not need a child's help."

Charlotte remembered when he told her that on that one day after Optimus was attacked. Optimus froze after he yelled those words. She didn't notice at the time, but now she knew why.

"Tronus softly cried himself to sleep, upset since I had raised my voice at him. I remember fighting to stay awake by walking around, playing with a rusty knife we found in the street. It was pathetic for a weapon, but it felt better to have at least something. The best thing about it was the strap it had, so I wouldn't lose it. But I eventually got tired of walking around so I went back to Tronus and sat next to his sleeping form. I must have slightly woken him because he scooted over and rested his head on my lap."

Charlotte saw that some liquid suddenly fell from Optimus's face. She couldn't see his face, since she was under it, but she was sure Optimus had shed a tear.

"Tronus mumbled 'I love you, Orion' to me, and I replied sleepily to him 'Love you too, Tronus'. That was the last thing we said to each other before I fell asleep…" Optimus sighed. "The next thing I know, Tronus is being harshly pulled off me. I tightened my grip on my knife and just went ballistic, attacking anything I saw that wasn't my little brother. I ended up cutting one of the bounty hunters across the eye. That easily enraged him and he kicked me. And he didn't stop…he just kept on kicking and kicking, holding nothing back. I tried looking for Tronus, only to see he was getting a similar beating. I cried out his name. We made eye contact so I tried getting up and going to him. My abuser wouldn't let me. He instead picked me up and threw me back down with all his strength. I was in a lot of pain, already chocking up energon. But I heard Tronus call out to me, also in pain. I found strength when I heard his voice and I once again pulled myself up, and started limping to my brother…but I never got to him. There was a loud bang, and my vison momentarily blurred as I fell to my knees in agony. Tronus was screaming my name, but I could hardly hear him. I fell limp to the ground, with a bullet wound in my back. And as I lay there, in my own energon, I saw Chancellor Incursus pull out his own gun. Before he fired, I heard him say the High Council motto again 'The Needs of the Many, Outweigh the Needs of the Few' and he shot Tronus in the chest. As if that wasn't enough, Incursus picked up Tronus's lifeless body and threw it out the far window; a window that was twenty stories up…I shared the same fate. I remember being picked up and thrown the opposite way. I lost consciousness on the way down." Optimus blinked a couple times, bringing himself back to the present. "That was the last time I saw my brother…bloody, bruised, and crying…tossed out like a rag doll." Optimus was growling again, but stopped himself. Yes, he would always be upset about what had transpired that night, but he had eventually moved on. Talking about his past was just opening up old wounds.

Charlotte didn't know what to say as she wiped away the teardrops that made their way down her cheeks. "Optimus…I'm so, so sorry." All she could do was hug his neck. He responded by gently rubbing the bottom of his chin against her. They remained that way for a while, forgetting about the meteor shower. But soon, Charlotte became curious as to what happened to Optimus after the whole incidence. "You passed out. So how did you survive the fall after your harsh beating and gunshot wound?"

Optimus let a ghost of a smile form. "I did leave you hanging rather dramatically," he realized.

"Ya think?"

Well, he didn't see any reason to stop. "Alright then, the last thing I remembered was falling. And next thing I know, I'm waking up in a private med-bay."

"How'd ya get there?"

"Will you let me tell the story?" Optimus was amused; Charlotte was really into his story.

"Oops…sorry," She smiled innocently.

"It's quite alright. Now, it turns out the only reason why I am still alive today is that while I was falling, a few bots walking by saw me falling and one of them came to my rescue." Optimus heard Charlotte start to ask who it was, but he beat her to it. "The one who caught me was none other than Ironhide."

"What!?" Charlotte jumped up, bumping her head on Optimus's chin. "Ow…" She started rubbing it. "Please continue, I won't say or do anything from now on. I'll just listen." Charlotte sat back down, and cuddled with the Prime's neck which emanated warmth.

_Leave it to Charlotte to hurt herself…again_, Optimus thought. "Anyhow Ironhide climbed up the building, caught me, and showed me to his superior, Alpha Trion; the senator he was protecting."

"You lost me…" Charlotte muttered, not wanting to interrupt again.

"Then I should give you some details." Optimus didn't mind this type of interruption. "Back then, Ironhide worked as a body guard to the higher ups, such as the Prime or Council members. It was kind of like the Secret Service, but we call it the Elite Guard instead. And whenever he wasn't protecting someone of importance, he would be doing Black Op missions given to him by the High Council."

Charlotte couldn't help but think how Ironhide must have always just been an intense guy.

"At the time, he was assigned to protect Chancellor Alpha Trion. Now Trion was unlike the other senators. He wasn't corrupt; he was sincerely for the people. And it was he who spotted me falling and ordered Ironhide to save me. When Ironhide had carried out his task, he returned to Alpha Trion with me in his arms. He gave me to Trion. And since his spark was full of compassion, he took me to his private medical officer, Ratchet. The medic repaired me. I woke up several days later to the three of them. They told me how I got there and asked for my story, but all I told them was that my entire family was murdered. They didn't get anything else from me." Optimus stopped. He assumed he had said enough for Charlotte.

But he was wrong. "Then what? Did they raise you? Did they teach you how to be bad-A? Or did they know you were gonna be Prime one day? Ratchet is your chief medical officer, huh? I thought he sounded familiar. Wait, if you knew Ironhide and Ratchet when you were in your babyhood years, wouldn't they be like really old and useless now?" She would have kept going if Optimus didn't speak up.

"Charlotte! For the love of Primus, slow down." Optimus heard Charlotte let out a 'tee hee, sorry'. Then he continued, answering her last question. "Ironhide and Ratchet are old, but they are not useless. In fact, they've never been better. My species is immortal. We are not immortal in the sense that nothing can kill us, but rather that we'll live forever. Cybertronians have a very unique life cycle. Our minds develop far quicker than our bodies. For example, just one year after our birth, we can speak, walk, and perform complex actions like dancing. We still look like sparklings, though. We are fully grown by we time we reach our 'twenties', so to speak, so we stop aging physically."

"Well then, it sounds like you're like the elves from Lord of the Rings. So…how old are you? Because I'm pretty sure you're older then you look." Charlotte thought Optimus looked like he was in his twenties, but she wasn't for sure. Heck, how was a robot supposed to look in its twenties?

Optimus calculated in his head how old he would be in Earth terms. He suddenly felt old, but hey, he looked great for his age. "I'm nine million years old. So I just missed one of the ice ages, but I would have been able to see the very first humans." Optimus said matter of factly.

"Holy! Geez! You're old…but that's still Awesome!" Charlotte couldn't see any down side to being a transformer. _Lucky_, she thought.

"Now that you know Ironhide and Ratchet are no longer useless because of their age, can I continue?"

"Yes."

Optimus continued to tell her the rest of his story. He told her that Alpha Trion, Ironhide, and Ratchet all helped raise him, making him part of the 1st class. And since Optimus had refused to tell them his name, they named him Optimus. Trion homeschooled him in all subjects. He taught Optimus the manners of a gentlemen, politics, and even battle strategies. Ironhide trained him to fight like a pro and even gave him pointers on how to 'get da ladies' as he put it. Ratchet mainly taught Optimus about medicine. The medic also educated him in technology. And just to mess with Ironhide, he told Optimus all of the weapon specialist's pressure points. Optimus started winning a lot of the matches against his instructor. Out of the three, Alpha Trion was the father figure for Optimus, while the other two were more like big brothers. Optimus explained to Charlotte that in the beginning, all he wanted to do was kill the bots who murdered his family, but those three changed his mind. They taught him to be merciful. And thanks to them, he grew up to be the bot that everybody knew and loved.

But Charlotte had one more question. "So did you ever see Incursus again?"

"Yes, I did." Optimus remembered. Even to this day, he saw the senator's face in his head in great detail. He could never stop his anger from raising a little every time he heard that name. "The first time I saw him after the incident, I would have been in my mid-teens. I was at Crystal City with Alpha Trion and Ironhide admiring its beauty. Chancellor Incursus was there with a few other council members. He had walked by and didn't even recognize me. Which was understandable since, by then, I had changed my color scheme to red and blue. But when I saw him, all of my anger came rushing back. I was ready to attack him. But Alpha Trion, seeing the look in my eyes, purposely got in the way. I remember him consoling me, and reminding me what they taught me about being the better bot."

Optimus continued to tell Charlotte his life story up until the war. As much as he wanted to that day, he didn't attack Incursus at Crystal City. And once he was old enough, he followed Ironhide's footsteps and joined the Elite Guard. Alpha Trion had been proud of Optimus for raising above himself and protecting the bots he had wanted to kill for his personal revenge. Optimus always guessed that Trion had figured out what had happened to him, but didn't talk about it until Optimus was ready.

He continued to tell Charlotte that at the Elite Guard military academy; he met Megatron for the first time. The primarily black with purple and green bot had recently abandoned the slums and life of a Gladiator of Kaon. He wanted to better his life by joining the Elite Guard, totally discarding the caste system. Optimus had not exposed him, for he did not approve of the caste system either. As fate would have it, Optimus and Megatron clicked, and became really close friends. They helped each other succeed. They improved each other's fighting skills; teaching each other fighting moves they had learned from their past experiences. They proved to be a great team; both exceedingly smart and cunning. Fully physically matured, the two of them graduated at the top of their class; Optimus never knowing his teal eyed friend's true intentions. If they really wanted to, together they could have ruled Cybertron. But instead they followed their own separate paths; Megatron seemingly throwing away everything he learned at the academy returning to the slums, and Optimus becoming a rising hero.

"Not long after I lost all contact with Megatron, uprisings began to occur in Kaon. Megatron had preached to the downtrodden that freedom of self-determination was the right of all sentient beings. He decreed that he would get rid of Cybertron's decrepit caste system. He quickly gained many followers, moving from city to city, and soon had an army. The first attack happened on our version of New Year's Day. I was on my way to Central City for my shift when I bumped into none other than Megatron and his now decepticon army."

_**Past**_

_The army was marching to Central with the intent on destroying it as well as every last High Council member and the Prime. They accidentally stumbled upon Optimus. Not trusting the Elite Guard soldier, the cons apprehended him, but he retaliated. Things would have gotten ugly were it not for Megatron stepping in; he immediately reprimanded his men for barely touching his friend._

"_Are you alright?" the decepticon leader asked, clearly concerned._

_Optimus stood and dusted himself off. "Oh you know, I just love being thrown around at the beginning of the day," was his sarcastic reply. _

_Megatron shook his head, but smiled none the less. He pulled Optimus into a side hug. "At least your personality is still intact. How've you been?" Megatron hadn't seen his friend in a while._

"_Same old, same old, I'm just curious as to how you've been. You seemed to have dropped off the face of the planet." Optimus returned the side hug. He heard his friend laugh, and took note of the purple emblem on his friend's chest. Then Optimus looked around, "Ah, do you mind telling me what's going on?" Realization slowly began to sink in. Optimus knew there had been uprisings occurring for some time now, but he didn't know who led them. He had been given orders to kill the leader, and he suddenly began to fear that his friend was that leader. "Megatron?"_

"_Oh don't look at me like that, Optimus. You must have known it was me, you just didn't want to believe it." Megatron smirked. "Now, you already know why I'm doing this. This government has to stop, they've done unimaginable things. The Prime and Council need to go."_

_Optimus agreed with him there, but he knew in his spark that this was the wrong way of doing it. Plus Alpha Trion was part of the Council, which would mean that he too would have to die. "Megatron, the Council has done unspeakable things; but there are some good things that have come from them too-"_

_The decepticon didn't want to hear anymore. "Enough! Optimus you have no idea of the unspeakable things this government has done in the name of honor! Now you're either with us, or against us…" By now, Megatron had stepped away from the red and blue bot._

_Optimus sighed as he looked down. "I can't." The next thing Optimus knew, he was knocked unconscious._

"_Do we kill him, Sir?" Shockwave, one of the soldiers, asked._

_Megatron looked down at Optimus, hoping he would not need to put an end to his friend. "No, maybe he will come to his senses. His alliance with our cause could make us unstoppable. Decepticons! Transform and rise up!" He led his troops to Central City. It was bombarded without mercy. _

_Optimus woke with a headache. "Ah…" he looked around and saw the streets deserted. He checked his internal clock; he hadn't been out long, just shy of ten minutes. He was normally pretty quick to recover, but the bot who hit him knew his stuff. He unexpectedly felt a vibration under him, followed by a stronger one. "What?" He pulled himself to his feet. He looked down the street in the direction of Central City, and gasped in surprise. The capital city was up in flames! He dashed towards the burning inferno, not thinking about the flames, only of how Alpha Trion was at Central! As he got closer, he saw the Elite Guard fighting off Megatron's men. He continued past them, heading for the building where the Council members would have been. The building's roof had collapsed, but even at his distance he saw movement inside. He spotted him! Optimus's mentor was leading his follow Council members to safety. "Alpha Trion!" _

_The ancient bot looked up at the sound of Optimus's distant voice. He made eye contact with the child he watched grow up. "Optimus, your assistance is required!" Alpha Trion yelled from across the rubble. Suddenly, he saw more missiles heading his way, and Optimus was between them and him. He would be hit! _

_Optimus saw Trion's face and knew something was wrong. He was getting close, so what was wrong. He suddenly heard from next to him, "Optimus! Incoming!" Optimus was tackled to the ground by a heavy force._

_He couldn't get up, he was pinned. "Get off!" He attempted to shove the bot off when he saw the missiles fly over them towards…towards… "Trion!" Even with the bot on top of him, his body was not completely shielded from the blast. The armor exposed melted onto his protoform, causing him to cry out in pain._

"_Easy kid." The bot on top of him growled. "I thought I taught you better than that, watch yur surroundings!"_

"_Ironhide?" Optimus stopped struggling against him. Ironhide got off and helped him up. Optimus saw that Ironhide was badly damaged. "Are you okay?"_

"_Nah, I've been worst. But we gotta go. It's not safe for yur-"_

"_Don't give me that! I've been full grown for a while now! I know how to take care of myself, thanks to you." Optimus reminded the black mech. Then he remembered Alpha Trion. He spun around and saw that there was nothing left of the building. "No…" _

"_Come on, there's nothing we can do."_

"_No!" Optimus slapped Ironhide's hand away from his arm. "You were supposed to protect him! But you came after me instead! Why?!" Optimus demanded._

_Ironhide's expression was cold, unreadable. "Don't you yell at me, boy! Yur letting yur emotions get the better of you! I couldn't reach him in time. And I sure wasn't gonna lose you too, so I had ta go save your aft!"_

_Optimus grew quiet, knowing the older mech was right. He suddenly remembered that Ironhide wasn't even on duty today. He had the day off. He wasn't even supposed to be here. And Optimus was lucky that he had been, otherwise he wouldn't be standing at the moment. "Thanks, for saving me."_

_Ironhide huffed, "Well let's not make it a habit." He felt Optimus squeeze his shoulder, reassuringly. "Primus kid, you've sure grown up."_

_Optimus smiled at the compliment, then he remembered his dad's little saying, 'You have a lot of growing up to do.' He decided to adopt the motto as his own. He was about to say something to his sarcastic teacher when he heard rolling metal. He and Ironhide looked down at the same time, and Optimus's face dropped. He heard Ironhide shout, 'Grenade!' before he was pushed out of harm's way. He was rolling down towards what was left of the High Council building, when he heard the explosion. He tried getting up to see if Ironhide was okay, but in his urgency he slipped and continued downhill. When he finally stopped and his vision cleared, he carefully stood. His body was starting to feel sore from the day's events. Optimus popped his back, and started heading back up the hill to Ironhide. He hadn't gotten far when he heard some bot in distress._

"_Help! Please, I'm pinned!"_

_Optimus slid down and ran to the rescue. He saw an arm waving at him from under some nearby wreckage. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Optimus got to the rubble, and hurriedly started lifting it off the poor mech. He pulled off the last piece of debris and looked at the wounded Cybertronian. He stopped and stared at him. "You…"_

_The injured Chancellor shifted under the younger bot's stare. "Yes me, now would you be so kind as to help an old chap up? Thank you." _

_Optimus bent down and helped him up. He had the old bot lean against him and put one of his arms around his neck. He did all this more harshly than necessary. "Incursus."_

_The old bot didn't hear the venom in the younger bot's voice. "Uh huh, that's me." They started limping away from the demolished building, using trenches as cover. Incursus looked back at the destruction. "Slag, those rebels have gone haywire. There's no hope for them. After this, they are all going to have to be destroyed."_

"_That makes us no better then them." Optimus said emotionlessly. He was having a hard time not pounding Incursus for his crimes against his family. Last time, Alpha Trion had been there to calm him, now there was nothing holding him back._

"_Ah yes, that is true. But these few rebels must be taken care of, or else this heresy will continue and spread. And you know this young warrior. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."_

_Optimus froze in anger, his energon boiling as he recalled these same words being spoken and Incursus then killing his mother and brother. He let out a growl as he shoved the senator off him._

_Chancellor Incursus was confused at the soldier's actions. "Is there something wrong?" he asked from ground level. He watched as the red and blue warrior paced back and forth, clearly upset about something. "Um…was it something I said?"_

"_Oh you have no idea," was Optimus's low, menacing reply. But he stopped his pacing when he saw the fear in the senator's optics. The fear he had caused. _

"_I…a…well…I," Incursus stuttered. He was too injured to defend himself if he was attacked._

_Optimus bent down in front of Incursus. He reached out to help him up, but the senator flinched at his touch. Optimus drew away. "Chancellor, I am sorry for my actions. I thought I had gotten over what happened. I guess it still bothers me. But please trust me when I tell you that I have now gotten over it. Let me help you." Optimus did not want the weak and injured to be afraid of him. He never wanted anyone to fear him. So he would make sure no one would, starting with his childhood enemy._

_Incursus saw in Optimus's optics that he was sincere. "Alright, let's get out of here." He let Optimus help him up. He leaned on him again for support. They hadn't even started walking yet, when they saw pebbles fall from the top of the trench they were in. They both looked up, expecting to see a decepticon. But instead, it was Alpha Trion. "Oh, would you look at that." _

"_Trion?!" Optimus exclaimed, not believing his mentor could have survived the blast._

_The ancient bot was beaming at his adoptive son. "Optimus, I am so proud of you. You fought and defeated your inner demons." He jumped down into the trench and helped Optimus carry Incursus. _

_Optimus felt like jumping up and down like a sparkling at Trion's praise. "You have taught me well."_

"_That was all you. But for a moment there I thought I would have to interfere. I'm glad I did not." Alpha Trion commended. He glanced at Incursus, who was in-between them, and he saw how awkward and out-of-place he looked. He probably felt like these two needed some space, but was stuck in between. Optimus brought him out of his thoughts._

"_Thank you for believing in me. But sir, how did you survive? That blast hurt us badly and we weren't even its intended target?" the young adult questioned. _

"_Let's just say I got the touch." Trion winked, causing Optimus to smile. The happy moment was short lived. The trench abruptly ended. The only way out was to climb up the trench, "Looks like we're going top side. I'll go first. Optimus, hold Incursus while I get up there, then lift him up and give him to me." _

"_Yes Sir." Optimus had Incursus lean his full weight against him as Trion climbed to the top of the trench. Once he was at the top, he did a quick look out then reached back down for Incursus. Optimus lifted the injured senator to his mentor. _

"_You doing alright?" Alpha Trion asked his coworker once they were both topside. Incursus never got to answer, for right as he opened his mouth, he was shot by a sniper. "What!?" Trion was surprised as Incursus fell lifeless into his arms. Trion made to jump back into the trench, but knew he would never make it. The sniper took him out. He laid dying half in the trench. Alpha Trion looked at Optimus, who had a look of horror on his faceplates. The young bot was on his way up when all this happened, so the sniper hadn't seen him. "Run," was the last thing Alpha Trion advised as his optics flickered out._

_Optimus physically had to bite his tongue to stop him from crying out in grief at his mentor's passing. But he decided to take his last piece of advice and get out of there. He clumsily wandered through the trenches depressed, not caring where he ended up. He eventually stumbled upon a temporary Elite Guard medical base. He saw the huge number of wounded being brought in, and the few that left. He felt his anger rising again, but stopped it. He needed to keep his emotions in check. He walked in and was surprised to see Ironhide and Ratchet there. The weapons specialist was getting repairs from Ratchet. Ironhide made the medic stop when he saw Optimus._

"_Optimus…how you holding up?" Ironhide asked, unsure of what the younger bot had been through, knowing from his expression that it was nothing good. _

_He would never cry in front of these two, but they could hear it in his voice. "I found Alpha Trion, but…but…I couldn't save him." And Optimus let his two 'older brothers' pull him into a comforting, safe, hug. He knew a part of him died, just like when his mother and brother died. Trion was the father he never had. He didn't even know if his real father was even alive, now that he thought about it._

"_I'm sure you did all you could, Optimus. Nevertheless, he has always been proud of you, just as we are," said Ratchet reassuringly. He didn't want to, but he was the first to break away from the embrace. "Now there is still a fight to be fought. We need soldiers. I'm fixing Hide back up. When I'm done, join him out there. I'm needed here, but trust me, I'd rather be out there kicking some decepticon aft!" _

"_He's right, kid. Go rest up, 'cause who knows when you'll be able to get a good night's recharge again." Ironhide patted Optimus on the back. But when the bot didn't move, he pushed Optimus into a nearby berth. "Go mee mee!" _

_Optimus smirked at his actions. "Fine, if you say so, but no more treating me like a sparkling. It's time I grew up." Ironhide nodded, while Ratchet just waved his hand in acknowledgment. Optimus fell into a fitful recharge, dreaming about all the death he experienced in his life so far. Least to say, it was not a very good night's sleep. _

_The young adult was roughly shaken awake by Ironhide hours later. Not long after they refueled with some energon, they headed out onto the battlefield. During the chaos of battle they were separated. When the dust settled, Optimus along with a team of younger Elite Guard soldiers were corned into a ditch and were slowly getting surrounded by the enemy. _

_Inside the dirty trench, the unexperienced Elite Guard soldiers were reloading and patching up wounds. The team leader, Landmine, was wounded in the leg and bleeding out fast, but since he was currently conscious, the young and scared soldiers still looked to him for orders and guidance._

"_Sir, what are your orders?" a black and white mech asked. _

"_We're not gonna make it!" twin brothers yelled at the same time._

"_They're probably not taking prisoners," a silver mech said gloomily. _

_The unexperienced fighters were trying not to panic. They had seen a lot of death recently and weren't ready to follow suit. Landmine was having trouble keeping his team intact. It didn't help that he was getting dizzy from the loss of energon. He finally couldn't take it anymore, "Shut your yappers!" The group fell silent. "Now somebody get me a lookout so we can see what we're up against!" _

_The team scout, Cliffjumper, climbed to the top of the ditch, dust picking up because of his movements. He ignored the chokes and coughs of his teammates as he slightly peeked his horned head out. He quickly ducked back into the ditch and reported back to Landmine. "Sir, we're surrounded."_

"_Excellent, we can attack in any direction!" Landmine waved his hand trying to clear the dust out of the way. With his vison getting disoriented he was getting frustrated and couldn't think straight, but he knew some bot had to get them out of there. He was surprised to hear the unfamiliar bot who had randomly started patching up his leg speak up. _

"_That would be a bad move, Sir." The only soldier who wasn't part of the team proposed. _

_Everyone, including Landmine, looked to the owner of the calm voice. The team didn't know the mysterious fellow. And Landmine didn't take the red and blue mech as a medic, but he had stopped the bleeding in his leg. Landmine remembered seeing the bot in action and being impressed. Now he was even more impressed because of his medical abilities. The mech proved to be interesting. "So then what do you suppose we do?"_

_Optimus whipped the energon off his hands and stood up. He went over to the edge of the ditch and did his own look out. Indeed, they were surrounded and the enemy was slowly closing the gap. Optimus returned to his fellow Elite Guard members. "I got a plan." _

"_Ew put ya en chirge, mate!" a young green seeker demanded._

_Landmine quickly put an end to the interruption. "Knock it off Jetfire! Go ahead, eh…"_

"_Optimus," the red and blue warrior answered, gazing at Jetfire. _

"_Right, Optimus. What's your plan?" Landmine urged for him to continue, despite the team's complaints._

_Optimus gave Jetfire one last look, then bent down so he could draw out his plan in the dirt for all to see. "Right well, we're going to concentrate all our fire on their weakest point. Once we punch through that section, continue firing along the circle they've formed around us to widen the gap. Then we are going to get the heck out of here. We'll go in a V formation that way," Optimus pointed in the direction they were going to hit. "I'll take point. Landmine Sir, you'll be in the middle since you're our only wounded. Does everyone understand?" The team nodded in acknowledgment. _

_But the one called Jetfire questioned Optimus. "Tha's yur plan? We gonna get shot up loike crizy. Thois 'ill neva work!"_

_Optimus stood and smirked at the flier. "Then let me tell you your part of the plan. Seekers have powerful engines that, when activated, will cause all this dust to rise. That will provide cover for our escape. We may be blind, but so will the decepticons. We know where we're going; the enemy doesn't."_

_Jetfire was silent. He mentally slapped himself and vowed to never question Optimus again. "'ell ilrighty then, let's dew thois."_

_Optimus looked to Landmine, "Ready?"_

"_Nah now, you're in charge. At your command, Sir." Landmine unsteadily stood up and saluted Optimus. The other soldiers did the same and quickly prepared for battle. _

_When Optimus saw that they were all ready, he looked at Jetfire. "Punch it." The green and white flier activated his engines and soon the entire area was covered in a massive dirt cloud. "Roll out!"_

_The advancing decepticons were taken by surprise when their visibility was suddenly gone. Soon after, they could hear gun shots and their fellow decepticons crying out in pain. They started shooting in random directions, accidentally hitting each other rather than the enemy. In the chaos, the little group of Elite Guard soldiers were able to get out of there and eventually return to their medical base relatively unharmed. At the base, they dropped off Landmine so he could get repaired. _

"_You youngsters can't leave me here and just take off back into the battlefield!" Landmine complained to the group._

"_Don worrai Sir. 'ith Optoimus leadin us, we cin dew inything." Jetfire reassured the old transformer. _

_Landmine believed the flier. This Optimus was something else. The veteran looked to the red and blue warrior. "Optimus, I hereby promote you to team leader. When I have recovered, I shall return to follow you."_

_Optimus stood up to his full height. "I am honored Sir." He saluted Landmine, who saluted back. _

"_Welcome to Team Autobot, Special Forces Sir." A black and white soldier welcomed. The mech gave Optimus a face looking insignia that represented their team._

_The newly promoted leader grinned at his teammate and took the red insignia. "Thanks. But I do believe introductions are necessary." _

"_If you say so. My name is Prowl, Elite Guard police officer."_

_A smaller silver mech butted in, much to Prowl's annoyance. "I'm Jazz! The one and only! Oh and these are the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." He pointed to a silver and yellow mech, then to a silver and red mech. They both waved. Jazz continued to introduce the rest of the autobot team. "You already know Jetfire, the hothead with the weird accent. And last but not least, the red one with horns is Cliffjumper." All the bots, except for Landmine, were younger than Optimus._

"_I am pleased to be working with all of you. As you already know, my name is Optimus." Now that the introductions were done, Optimus then took his small team that he had accidentally inherited back out onto the battlefield to finish the fight. _

_For weeks he led them successfully mission after mission, their numbers growing every time they set out. When Optimus finally crossed paths with Ironhide and Ratchet, they were both impressed. They proudly joined him. Optimus's forces grew so big and powerful that the Prime took notice. Sentinel Prime was surprised to find out that the leader of team Autobot was so young. Fully grown, yes, but he had to have been fully mature for only about a year. Overlooking this, the Prime still required his services._

"_Your actions on the battlefield are most impressive and admirable. Your team highly respects you, and you are a force to be reckoned with. I am glad you are on my side young warrior." Sentinel commended. _

"_I do not wish to be called 'young', my Lord." Optimus claimed from his kneeling position in front of the Prime. _

_Sentinel regarded Optimus, the matrix stirring within him for some odd reason. "Rise Optimus. I am promoting you to commander." _

_Optimus rose, not liking being on his knees. "Thank you, Sir."_

_The Prime was not finished. "I'm going to need you and your undefeated team for this upcoming battle. The decepticon leader will be there and I will need the best of the best at my side. Get your troops ready, we leave at dawn." _

_Optimus bowed and left. As he went his way through the halls of the historical building, he passed by a group of femmes. The three were silently gossiping to each other as he came their way, obviously checking out the cute commander. He couldn't stop himself from winking at them as he passed by, causing the group to giggle. He turned the corner with a smug smile on his face. _

_The next morning Optimus and his autobots marched with Sentinel Prime's army to the front. The battle was even for a few days, but after a while, the decepticons started gaining ground. During the battle, Optimus and Sentinel were separated from their army. The decepticons had planned to separate those two so that their forces would be leaderless and fall into disorder. They were mistaken because the army was more than capable of holding the decepticons off. But as for Optimus and Sentinel, their luck wasn't as good. It was just the two of them against the cons._

"_Sentinel look out!" Optimus took a hit for the Prime. The blast rendering his left arm useless. "Scrap!" Sentinel glanced in Optimus's direction, making sure the bot was okay. Optimus was hurt, but he kept on fighting. His repair system already working on fixing the injury. "You gotta watch your left." Optimus suggested._

"_I have a bad habit I know," was all Sentinel said as he continued to blast the cons that kept on coming endlessly. There was a point where the two fighters were back to back, and during that time, they both failed to notice the grenade that rolled between them. The explosion separated them, and temporarily knocked Optimus unconscious. _

_He awoke with a massive headache to the sounds of Sentinel crying out in agony. Optimus, both arms working fine now, pulled his body out from under a collapsed building part and looked in the direction of the Prime's cries. His vision was slightly blurred, but he saw Megatron flying away from the area, away from Optimus. The decepticon leader most likely didn't see him. Optimus stared off into the distance at Megatron's flying form, and was brought out of his daze when he heard Sentinel gasp in pain. Optimus stumbled through the wreckage and found Sentinel's broken body. "Sentinel?"_

_The dying Prime turned his head at the sound of the autobot's voice. "Optimus," his voice was hoarse. "Come closer." Optimus did as he was told and knelt beside Sentinel. "Cybertron…needs a leader, a leader that I believe to be you Optimus." Sentinel opened his chest plates and carefully took out the Matrix of Leadership. "It is to you…Optimus, that I pass the Matrix of Leadership."_

"_Sir, I am just a soldier-"_

"_No, you…are… much more." Sentinel was having a hard time talking, for his strength was wavering. With his last bit of energy, he lifted the matrix and rested it in Optimus's shaking hands. His hand fell back down, and Sentinel's optics flickered out. _

_Optimus cupped the Matrix to his chest and bent his head. "Till all are one…" He slowly stood back up and looked at the ancient artifact. It glowed brightly at his touch. Optimus took a deep breath and opened his chest plates. He placed the matrix over his spark, securely in his chest, and closed himself up. He immediately felt his body start to shift and change as he grew bigger and stronger. He literally felt his processor open up and download loads of information. He now had the ancient Primes of the Past in him to guide him. Optimus felt power radiating off of him, which sort of scared him. He looked back down at Sentinel's dead body and for a glimpse of a moment, he saw his father dead in front of him instead of Sentinel. Optimus shook his head, not liking the image. He now couldn't help but think how his father must be dead, just like the rest of his family. He couldn't stop his feelings from rushing to the surface. He quickly calmed himself back down, knowing that from now on, he could never again lose control of his feelings. He also knew that with the role of Prime, he could not have any close relations with any bot. _

"_Bummer," the new Prime said to himself. He then lifted Sentinel's body up and carried him in both his arms; he didn't want to leave his body here. "Now, how am I supposed to get out of here alive?" Optimus felt the matrix pulse within him and his body began to shift again, except this time it was a transformation. He felt a battle mask he didn't know he had click into place in front of his lower face. Little wings next to his antennas also popped out, making him look more intimidating. He felt his back and feet armor shift. He was taller for he now had engines at his feet. He also had large red wings with guns sprouting from his back. "Well this is unexpected." He silently thought to himself, 'I'm cool'. But with his new body, he could return to the battle. He started his engines and shot off into the air. It took him a few seconds to get the hang of flying, and before long he felt like a pro. Optimus wanted to enjoy himself in the air, but knew he had responsibilities to attend to, plus it wasn't fun carrying a dead bot. _

_It didn't take the Prime long to find his troops. The battle was currently at a cease fire, for word had gotten out that Sentinel Prime was dead. The decepticons were celebrating on their side, while the Elite Guard and Autobot forces were down and unsure of what to do on their side of the battlefield. The Prime landed in front of the generals of his army. At first, they lifted their guns and prepared to fire. But once they saw who it was and who he was holding; they lowered their weapons._

"_What happened?" A general, Ultra Magnus, asked. _

_Optimus laid Sentinel's body in a nearby berth. "We were surrounded. Decepticons everywhere. We were fighting them, when we were suddenly separated by yet another grenade blast." Optimus looked at Ironhide, remembering how they had once been separated the same way. He really didn't like grenades. "When I came to, Sentinel was already on the verge of death. In his last moments, he passed on the Matrix of Leadership to me; making me Prime." When everyone heard that, they instantly went to their knees, in respect to the Prime. "Please get up. I am a soldier just like every one of you. We have a war to win, and we have no time to be wasting time on formalities." _

_All the warriors stood up with a loud, "Hooah!" All already liking the new Prime. _

_Optimus Prime immediately got down to business. He combined Sentinel's Elite Guard and his Autobot Special Forces team into one army, making them the Autobot Army. All the soldiers got the autobot insignia engraved on them, signifying their loyalties. The decepticons thought they won, so imagine their surprise when their enemy comes back onto the battlefield stronger than ever. _

"_What!?" Megatron was truly shocked as he saw the autobots charging at him and his army. He spotted Optimus at the front, leading the army. "Optimus…" He was even more surprised to see his friend leading the enemy. Megatron rallied his troops, and charged towards the autobots. Megatron took to the skies and went straight for Optimus. The autobot leader saw this and did the same. The decepticon leader didn't know if he could handle any more surprises from his red and blue friend. The two leaders clashed midair and tumbled back towards the ground. They made a decent size crater. In the hole, Optimus shoved Megatron off him. Megatron was done with these surprises. "What happened to you?!"_

"_What happened to me!? Like you're one to talk! You're the one who dropped everything and crawled back to the slums!" Optimus shot back._

"_I have my reasons." Megatron growled. But now that he was closer to Optimus, he finally got a good look at his upgrade. "So when did you get your upgrade? It's about time you looked more intimidating." He smirked. _

_Optimus was still glaring at his fallen friend. "It happened when I became Prime."_

_Apparently, Megatron was still in for surprises. His face momentarily dropped, but was instantly replaced by anger and betrayal. "You've become what we were against." He snarled. _

"_Megatron it's not like-"_

"_Enough! You chose your side!" The decepticon leader clearly felt betrayed. He narrowed his teal optics, "You're dead!" _

"And so our rivalry was born." Optimus told Charlotte. The teenager really wished she had popcorn. "Since then, it has been nonstop war. Great cities fell into destruction; countless civilians dying in the crossfire. Now the entire planet is in ruins. And…well I guess you already know the rest of the story. Just endless fighting, until one side falls, leaving the other victorious." Optimus fell silent, not needing to explain anything anymore.

Charlotte definitely respected Optimus even more now that she had an idea of his past. "I think this was a good talk." She crawled out from under his chin and hugged the side of his head. "Thanks for sharing with me; I hope you feel better now that you've opened up a bit."

Optimus nuzzled into her hug. "This stays between you and me."

"Absolutely." Optimus put Charlotte back on the ground where she picked up all her belongings. She then went back to Optimus, who took her back to her room. "Goodnight Orion."

"Goodnight little one."

* * *

><p><strong>Long chapie, but yeah, who doesn't like some backstory. And I KNOW this is not exactly how things traditionally happen, but all these things happen for a reason.<strong>

**Anyhow, now we know why Optimus is the way he is :,( tragedy really, so much death at such a young age... **

**Tell me whatcha think :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Eye Opener

**Chapter 13: Eye Opener**

Sophomore year was finally coming to an end, and Charlotte was so done with school. She found it harder and harder to care about doing homework, procrastinating constantly. She just wanted it to be summer already. It didn't help that she had to stay at school later than most kids either. Her teacher pulled her into tutoring other students who needed help in math since she was so good at it.

It was almost 5:00 on one windy Thursday afternoon when Charlotte headed to the practically deserted parking lot; Optimus being the only vehicle present. On her approach the wind picked up suddenly and for a brief moment, her skirt flew up.

"Yikes!" She hurriedly tried to flatten her skirt back down, but the wind was being a pervert; making her skirt go up again. She heard a stifled laugh, and look up to see that Optimus flashed his lights in surprise. "Do you mind!?" Optimus responded by backing up, turning, and parked facing the opposite direction. Charlotte held her skirt down the rest of the way, until she reached Optimus. She jumped into the passenger side, and didn't say anything, acting like nothing had happened.

But Optimus couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Windy day?"

"Shut up…"

Leo wiggled his way out of her backpack, "Did I miss something?"

Charlotte replied with an embarrassed "no" while Optimus replied with a cheerful "nope".

"Well then," Leo was confused.

It was an awkward car ride home. But once they were at the house, things returned to normal. Leo went inside to watch Ninja Turtles, again. Charlotte was on her way inside when Optimus stopped her.

"Can you accompany me to the backyard? I want to show you something." The Prime said.

"Sure thing, just let me grab a quick snack and change into 'wind proof' clothes." She smiled. Optimus nodded and proceeded to the backyard. Charlotte quickly ate a fruit roll up and changed into grey sweat pants, leaving on the pink Superman shirt she had been wearing all day. She went outside to see Optimus laying on his front, playing with an empty tire swing. "Is this seat taken?" she asked, pointing to the swing.

"Be my guest," Optimus stopped the swing and let her climb into it. Once she was settled, he gently started to push it with his finger.

"So what did you want to show me?" The teenager asked. It was still windy, and she now wished she brought a light jacket. It was always a little colder in Flagstaff then what was comfortable.

"My newly invented holoform."

"Holo-what?" Charlotte looked up at the alien's face. She was a little startled to see that his optics were greatly dimmed, as if he was somewhere else. His face expression was for a moment really focused, then relaxed to be expressionless. "Optimus?" She was about to get out of the swing, since the robot's hand stopped pushing it, but stopped when she felt the swing getting pushed from behind. She turned and gasped in surprised, seeing a handsome guy she had never seen before pushing the tire swing. She quickly slipped out the front of the swing and yelled at the stranger. "Who the heck are you?!"

The attractive guy raised his hands as he got around the tire swing. "Charlotte, calm down. It's me." The stranger said in Optimus's voice. In OPTIMUS'S voice! Well a little less metallic, but still his voice.

"Wait, what!" Charlotte saw a smile grow on the guy's smooth face, Optimus's smile. She approached and the man put his hands down. She reached up and touched his face, and instantly drew it back when she felt skin.

"That's my face." This was definitely Optimus, sarcastic ways and all.

Charlotte slowly began to smile as well. "How?" Optimus explained to her that for the past two or so years, he had been working on his holoform project. His holoform is composed of billions of nanites, taking the shape of a solid human. It is connected to his conscious, literally making the holomatter HIM. The only downside to the holoform was that it was just an appearance, so he could not feel or taste anything. A plus to the holoform was that it was greatly stronger and faster than any human. "You had to make the holoform better than humans, didn't you?"

"What can I say?" Optimus shrugged, a small mischievous glint in his golden eyes. "I am a superior species after all." He teased.

"Whatever," Charlotte rolled her hazel eyes. But now that she knew that this guy was in fact Optimus, she began to examine his form more closely. Optimus was tall, maybe six foot. He had evenly tanned skin, darker than her skin. His navy blue hair was pulled back into a medium small ponytail. He had one long thick bang reach far past his golden eyes, which almost looked like they were glowing. He wore a black shirt that was not skin tight, but tight enough that she could see his six pack. Over his shirt, he had on a red jacket with blue windshield designs on the chest area. It looked like his chest armor to be honest. He wore dark blue jeans along with black heavy duty shoes. Overall, Charlotte couldn't determine his age. He had one of those faces that he could be in his late teens, or early to mid-twenties. _Probably since he is an actual adult, but will always look and act young_, she thought. "You look nice by the way."

"Thank you, and Charlotte, you could stop staring now." The good-looking Prime smirked. Though he didn't mind getting 'checked out' as the humans put it.

"Phffft! I wasn't staring!" she defended herself, turning slightly red. "I'm just not used to you looking, like…well…a human."

"Quite understandable. But now I have to teach Leonardo how to use this holoform program, so if you would excuse me." Optimus turned away from her and headed up the back porch steps, and went inside.

Charlotte waited outside for a while, but dashed in when she heard Tony and Leo both start screaming about a 'stranger in the house'. "Guys calm down, you won't believe who it is!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Outside of the city-state Praxus<strong>_

The decepticons were totally unprepared as they were attacked by the autobots. There had been no word on the enemy for months, so the sneak attack was working perfectly. During the first wave of attacks, one of the decepticon drones was able to call for reinforcements.

"Mayday! Mayday! Autobots attacking Praxus! We need help! Gahh!"

Back at Kaon, Soundwave relayed the distress signal to Starscream.

"I guess those autobot cowards have finally come out of hiding." Starscream ordered his armada to go reinforce the decepticons stationed at Praxus. He then relaxed into his throne, ready to watch the battle from the monitors. The seeker heard an irritated grunt from the shadows, and looked to see Blackout leaning on the wall. Starscream glared at Megatron's loyal hound, "What crawled up your tailpipe and died?" he wasn't going to let the dark mech ruin his good mood.

"You're unbelievable. You sit here and fiddle your fingers while you watch the battle. You should go there yourself and ensure victory." Blackout growled. He stood up, and turned to join his fellow decepticons in battle.

Starscream thought about what he said. Yep, he ruined his good mood. "Fine!" the outburst made Blackout stop and turn to the seeker, optic ridges raised. "Soundwave, accompany Blackout and I to battle. We're gonna show those autobots…" The communications officer obeyed without a word, surprise surprise. The three high ranking cons led Starscream's armada to Praxus.

Landmine saw the decepticons from a distance. "Decepticon reinforcements incoming!" He warned his team.

"Take cover!" Ironhide ordered as the cons dropped bombs on their location. On his way to shelter, he was shot in the leg on his blindside by an unknown source, and fell. "Scrap." He tried crawling to cover, but he wasn't going to make it in time before the bombs dropped. He couldn't help but think that the traitor probably shot him. Ironhide heard the whistling sound of missiles falling. _This is gonna hurt_, he thought. At the last possible moment, Ironhide was dragged out of the way into a shelter. "Wha?" While everything shook violently around them, Ironhide saw that it was Moonshadow who saved him.

"Getting a little old, don't you think?" The young bot teased.

Ironhide shook his head a little. "I'm not old, I'm experienced." He told the black and dark blue youngster. "But thanks Kid."

"Uh huh," the smaller, but well-built mech acknowledged as he reloaded his weapon. He peaked out and saw it was clear. "Later," he took off and headed straight for the cons, attacking them with surprising grace.

Ironhide crawled out of the shelter and tried standing up. He could, only as long as he didn't put too much weight on his injured leg. He heard engines approaching, so he wiped out his cannons ready for a fight. He lowered them as he saw Jazz and Sideswipe drive up to him and transform.

"Ya made it!" Jazz said excitedly.

Sideswipe let out a relieved sigh, "We saw you go down, and well, we weren't sure if you made it to cover." He crouched down to look at Ironhide's leg. "I'm no medic, but you can't fight with that injury." He stood back up and both Jazz and he got on either side of Ironhide, helping him get away from the battle and make his way to Ratchet.

The doc was not amused. "How in the Pit are you already injured!?" He roughly took Ironhide from the two silver mechs and started tearing at his leg, fixing it crudely. Jazz and Sideswipe watched with terrified expressions on their faces as Ratchet mauled Ironhide, yet somehow still fixing him up. The frightening medic stopped when he saw the two still there. "What are you two still doing here?" He grabbed his famous wrench and was about to throw it at them, but all that was left was dust outlines of them. "Thought so…"

Elsewhere on the battlefield, an unaccompanied Chromia was downing decepticon vehicons like there was no tomorrow, totally ignoring the 'Battle Buddy' rule. The autobots were always outnumbered when the purple eradicons showed up, but they were easy pawns compared to the decepticon officers. The baby blue autobot femme soon had a wasteland of vehicons behind her. "This was just too easy." She grumbled to herself. Chromia was suddenly thrown back as two decepticon seekers landed directly in front of her.

The black and blue seeker pulled her to her feet by the throat. "Then allow us to keep you occupied my dear." He purred. The mech then turn to his black and purple counterpart, "What do you say, Skywarp?"

The red eyed seeker grinned as he looked the femme up and down. "Oh I say we have some fun with her."

Chromia struggled in Thundercracker's iron grip. She would have gotten out of it if it was just him, but the seeker's twin was now helping pinning her to the ground. "Get off me!" Their wicked laughter made her energon freeze in fear.

"Since Megatron is gone, so is his stupid 'no rape' rule." Skyward sneered from on top of Chromia.

She was definitely scared now. She sent panic through her link with Ironhide. [Hide! Get your aft over here and Help me!]

Ironhide jumped up, feeling her panic. [Hold on Mia!] He sent her reassuring feelings, trying to comfort her. "Ratch I need to go! Chromia got herself in a bind!" He tried getting away from the medic, but Ratchet had already stuck a sedative in him.

"Easy Ironhide."

"But," Ironhide tried desperately, but didn't finish since he was dizzy.

"I already took care of it. Some bots are on their way to her now." Ratchet gently laid his frantic patient back down. The Doc knew Chromia would go out on her own, so he purposely made sure at least some bot was always somewhat close by to her.

Before the two decepticon seekers could do anything harmful, they were shot off of Chromia. She rolled back and was instantly on her feet, guns ready. She slightly turned her head, still wanting to keep an optic on the seekers, to see who rescued her. Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scattershot were running up; shooting the cons until they flew off cursing. Now that her abusers were gone, Chromia gave her rescuers her full attention. "Thanks guys." She thanked full heartedly.

"It was our pleasure miss." Red Alert smiled.

"You can always count on the Cybertron Defense Team!" The youngest of the three, Hot Shot, assured.

"The what?" Chromia, Red Alert, and Scattershot asked in unison.

The light blue, yellow, and red mech grinned. "It's what I'm calling us from now on."

"Keep telling yourself that, buddy, but it'll never stick." Scattershot patted the younger bot on the back.

On another part of the battlefield Arcee and Tailgate were trying to take down another set of twin seekers, Dreadwing and Skyquake. They were getting their afts kicked until the wreckers, Bulkhead and Wheeljack, came to help them out. But even with the added force, the seeker brothers were still winning.

"We're getting canned out here! We need backup!" Tailgate pointed out from behind cover.

Wheeljack laughed. "Wreckers don't call for backup, they call for cleanup! Let's go Bulk!" He and the bigger dark green mech charged the seeker twins, tackling both of them to the ground.

"They're crazy." Tailgate watched wearily as the wreckers pounded the decepticons under them.

His partner, Arcee, shrugged. "That's just them for you." Bulkhead and Wheeljack were both thrown off by the cons. "Looks like the crazies need help, come on." Arcee jumped up firing her weapons on the two seeker brothers.

Eventually Ironhide was fit for battle again, and he and Jetfire charged through the cons, straight for Starscream. The cowardly seeker took to the skies, avoiding Ironhide, but not Jetfire.

"Ee's moine!" The two fliers continued to have an epic air battle.

Ironhide was stuck on the ground to face both Blackout and Soundwave. "Well this will be fun," the autobot leader joked. He was about to attack, when Prowl suddenly snuck up right next to him. "Primus Prowl! Don't do that!" Ironhide was always amazed at Prowl's ninja abilities, but also always annoyed by them.

The black and white warrior never even glanced in his leader's direction. "I'll take Blackout. He led the decepticons when they took over Praxus…my home." The Praxian sprinted at the bigger of the two decepticons at top speed. Blackout wasn't prepared as he was tackled to the ground, not expecting the smaller mech to be so quick.

Ironhide looked back to Soundwave. "I guess it's just you and…wait," he noticed that a large section of Soundwave's chest armor was missing. He was suddenly getting shot at from behind as Laserbeak opened fire on him. He dodged the shots and fired back. During his fight with the bird bot and its master, he saw that Cliffjumper and Bumblebee had both started helping Prowl take on Blackout. The large decepticon soon was heavily damaged, and was overpowered. He tried retreating, but the autobots wouldn't let him get away. Just as they were about to finish him off Starscream, shockingly, came to Blackout's rescue. He came down and landed on Cliffjumper while shooting missiles at the other two, causing them to fall back. The red mech tried to push the clawed talons out of his chest, but Starscream had them in deep. The decepticon leader sneered as he looked down at his victim. He pulled out his blade and was mere inches from decapitating Cliffjumper when he was forced off from something smashing into him. Starscream glared at the object that was thrown at him, but his expression turned blank when he saw that it was Soundwave. He looked up to see Ironhide with a victorious smile on his face. "I still got it…"

The decepticon leader narrowed his optics at the autobot leader, "You think you've won?"

This only seemed to invoke the black mech, "Ah yeah, look around Screamer." Decepticon vehicons laid in pieces all around the battleground. Decepticon officers were going down and retreating. "I'd say I won." Ironhide smirked.

Starscream growled low in his throat, but backed away from the scarred mech. "Decepticons…retreat." He spat. His surviving forces started withdrawing from the battle, getting shot at by the autobots the entire time.

While the cons were leaving Blackout started freaking out. "Wait! We need to go back for Scorponok!" He started limping back towards Praxus.

His actions forced Starscream's hand. "Stop you overgrown lugnut! You can't go back, not in your condition. If he didn't retreat like the rest of us, he's probably dead." He pulled the larger mech back.

This earned Starscream a disdainful glare. "I know he's alive. My spark connection with my creation tells me so-"

"Fine! Just be quiet. I'll go get your precious pet!" Starscream gave the injured bot to one of the vehicon fliers. "Take him, and get him to a medic." The decepticon leader than went back to Praxus to see that the autobots were in fact gunning down a retreating Scorponok. The seeker flew low, ground level, so that the arachnid could latch on to him. "Scorponok! Get on!" Starscream ordered as he avoided gunfire. The minicon did as he was told, and spun upside-down in midair, and latched onto the seeker. With the added weight, Starscream couldn't fly as fast, but he still got them both out of there. Right as he was about to be out of range, he got nicked in a sensitive part of his wing and went down. "Slag," but he was out of shooting range now, so it wasn't so bad. Before he and Scorponok headed back to Kaon, he glanced back at the autobots, wondering who hit him with that lucky shot.

At Praxus, the autobots were cheering. They won, no casualties, but they were not shy of injuries. A victory no less. Some of the mechs were congratulating the femme that shot and took down Starscream at the last minute.

"That was a sick shot! You're probably the best sharp shooter in the galaxy, Moonracer." Sideswipe applaud.

"In the universe, Sides." The light green and white femme corrected. She proceeded to shoot down a con, who was trying to retreat, in the far distance without even looking. She winked at the silver mech.

"Yeah yeah yeah, we get it. You're the best. I totally agree with ya, but please stop bragging about it." A red and orange femme interrupted the two bots before things got too cozy.

Moonracer giggled, "Sure, whatever you say Firestar." She slapped her friend's rear end. This caused the fire colored femme to yelp in shock. She turned to her friend and the two engaged in a play fight.

"Girl Fight!" Sideswipe yelled to his fellow mechs excitedly. There was soon a circle surrounding the femmes, bets taking place on who would win. Chromia eventually squeezed her way inside. Seeing her subordinates go at it, since by now they were actually fighting to be the victor. This actually tempted her to get in there and take the victor seat all for herself.

"Don't even think about it." Chromia had muscular arms sneak up behind her and engulf her waist in a protective hug. She felt love and worriedness coming from Ironhide's end of the bond.

"I'll be fine. I can take them both on and still be out on top." She cuddled into his strong, yet gentle arms.

"But still…" Ironhide started, but finished through their bond, [stay with me] He continued to send his sparkmate love, but he also sent her his fear for her safety. He was still pretty shaken up from almost losing her from earlier.

Chromia relaxed and leaned back into him, "Fine."

The couple was so entrapped by each other that they didn't notice one of their supposedly fellow autobots giving them a malicious scowl. _Taking out Ironhide will be much easier than taking out Optimus Prime,_ he thought to himself. And now that he was on Cybertron's surface again, he could go back to feeding the decepticons information.

* * *

><p>Leo was standing in front of a mirror. "I…look…adorable!" He had gotten the whole 'holoform' thing down by the end of the day.<p>

Charlotte uncovered her eyes; Leo had asked her to cover them just in case something didn't come out right. "Let me see."

The holoform of Leo turned to her. "Whatcha think?" he asked with baby blue eyes. His human form looked to be thirteen to fifteen years old. He was an inch or two smaller then Charlotte; she was 5ft 3in. His hair was a Brandeis blue color. He had on his head a pair of light blue dirt biking goggles. They looked just like his visor in his robot form. He wasn't as tan as Optimus, but it looked like he was always outdoors. Leo wore a light blue t-shirt that had a picture of a navy blue iPod listening to itself on it. He had on dark blue jeans and wore black converse high tops.

"Okay, you look adorable." Charlotte's comment caused Leo to smile the cheesiest smile.

Tony was sitting on the couch watching the two humanized transformers in the living room. It was all a little too weird for him. There was human Optimus sitting next to him inside, and then his real body was outside in the backyard just sitting there. _I guess it is possible to be in two places at once_, Tony thought to himself. "Hey Charlotte, your friends are gonna flip out once they see them like this, ya know." The eighteen year old pointed out.

"Yeah they would," she agreed. Charlotte thought for a moment and her face brightened up. "They can meet mom and dad!" The room got dead silent. "What? You don't think it's a good idea?"

Tony protested first, "No! What if they find out about them?"

"Tony they're human! Mom and dad aren't gonna see their robot forms, which itself would be difficult to explain. But come on, we could have them over for dinner tomorrow night." She looked at Optimus and gave him a puppy dog face. "Pwease…"

The Prime's natural defense system was no match for her cute face. He sighed in defeat, "Okay fine, we'll meet your parents."

Charlotte jumped up with a, "Yay!" and hugged Optimus. It was strange hugging a boy that wasn't her father or brother.

"Group hug!" Leo grabbed Tony on his way over and threw him in the group hug. Charlotte laughed, tomorrow night was gonna be interesting.

Later that night when both parents were home, Charlotte and Tony asked if they could have their friends come over for dinner. They were surprised that the two could even share the same friends because their crowds were so different. Robert was interested in meeting the friends that had caused both his children to light up with such excitement. He said 'sure' and Anna asked what they should have for dinner. The family agreed to pizza since Charlotte and Tony didn't know what their friends would like, and who didn't like pizza? The next day after school, the kids had to clean the house for their guest. It was at that time that they began to regret inviting friends, their mama was crazy about having the house clean for guests. Before long, it was 6:00 pm and the family was patiently waiting for their guest to arrive. At 6:05 the doorbell rang. Charlotte ran to answer it, but her dad beat her to it. He turned and gave her a victorious smile after hearing her, "Aw, come on."

Robert Ire, still in his police uniform, opened the door to two teenagers around his children's age. "Hello, you're my kids' friends I presume?"

The two blue haired boys nodded. The older one outstretched his hand, "My name is Orion, and this is my little brother Leonardo." The younger one waved as Robert shook the teen's hand. It was a good, firm handshake. Not weak or bone-crushing, already describing the boy's character.

"Please come in," Robert stepped aside, letting the teens inside. In the light, he noticed for the first time that both of their hair was a shade of blue. _Alright, that's kinda weird._ Their blue hair didn't seem to match the way they carried themselves. As a cop, he couldn't help but profile strangers upon first encounters.

Charlotte welcomed their guest with a hug, while Tony gave them the usual hand slap and fist bump. Apparently hugging was a girly thing according to Tony. They introduced Orion and Leo to Anna, who had just finished ordering the pizzas. While they waited for their food to get there, the parents had them all sit in the living room, wanting to get to know their guests.

Robert wasn't shy, so he asked the first question. "So boys, just out of curiosity, why is your hair blue? You trying to prove a point? Or is this some type of rebel phase that teenagers go through?" His blunt question earned him a kick and amused look from his wife.

Orion lightly laughed as he waved the bluntness of the question off. "It's alright Mrs. Ire. We get asked that a lot from folks who don't know us. Believe it or not, it's our natural hair color. A mutation caused by my family centuries ago. And my family isn't the only one with a weird mutation, there's this one mutation that causes the skin to turn blue. You can look it up if you want." Optimus came prepared for any question that Charlotte's parents might ask. Their questions were no match for the arsenal of answers he brought with him.

They actually had heard of the blue skin mutation, so they believed him. But Anna had other questions. "So how'd you guys start hanging out? We've never heard about you until yesterday." Optimus continued to answer all the questions, while Leo looked around the house, pretending he had never been there before. Supposedly Orion and Leonardo moved from Kansas to Arizona and transferred to Charlotte's and Tony's high school recently. They started hanging out when Leo and Charlotte found out they had the same iPod and became iPod buddies. They then introduced their siblings to each other and the group just clicked. The boys lived with their father who was a mechanic. Their mom passed away when they were little.

"What was your name again?" Charlotte's mom asked the Prime.

"Orion," he replied. "Like the constellation. My mom was really into astronomy. My dad blames the vast starry skies of Kansas."

"So how'd you guys get here?" Robert asked. He didn't remember hearing or seeing if their father dropped them off. If he did, he would have invited him inside as well.

"I drove. Our dad couldn't get off work." Orion replied causally.

"Oh really? What do you drive?" Robert asked. Tony and Charlotte were also interested in what he was gonna say. Charlotte just hoped he didn't say fire truck, because teenagers just don't drive those around town.

"A peterbilt 379." Charlotte face palmed at his answer, it had to be a semi. Teens don't drive those either!

"Can I see it?" Robert always wanted to look inside those huge vehicles.

"Sure," Orion led everyone to the front yard. There, parked in the driveway, was a blue and red flamed peterbilt. He opened the driver door and showed Robert the inside.

"Guys! There's a bed back here! So cool," everyone heard Robert shout from inside the truck.

While the father was in the cab, Orion approached a very confused looking Charlotte. "Is something wrong?"

She gave him a suspicious look. "You changed your vehicle mode? Why would you do that?"

Orion had to bend down to whisper in her ear. "I didn't change anything, I like my fire truck mode too much. It's a hologram over my real form."

"More nanites?" Charlotte whispered back. Orion nodded. She looked back at the truck. "So why the flames?"

"I thought it would be ironic seeing as I'm actually a fire truck."

Anna Ire was watching her daughter and Orion whisper to each other, wondering what good-looking boy said that made them both laugh. They looked like a cute couple, but if they were together, that could mess up Tony and Orion's friendship. _No never mind_, she thought to herself. She was pulled from her thoughts when the pizza guy showed up. "Dinner's here." She called everyone inside the house. The pizza was gone instantly and soon Leo was helping Anna and Charlotte clean the kitchen, while Robert and Orion started a game of chess with Tony watching. Anna didn't want her guest to help clean the kitchen, "Leo dear, why don't you go join the boys. Charlotte and I got this."

"If you say so," Leonardo shrugged. As he headed towards the living room, he accidentally knocked over Anna's purse that was hanging loosely over a chair. When the bag hit the ground, its contents all came spilling out. "Oops, sorry. I'll clean it up." He called when he heard the girls ask 'what happened'.

Anna came around the corner to see what all the fuss was about. "Leonardo, is everything okay?" She gasped when she saw her government flash drive on the floor among her other purse things_. Crap, I was supposed to have put that somewhere else!_ She tried not to panic as Leo bumped it slightly with his foot as he gathered the other things on the floor.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Ire. I accidentally knocked your purse off the chair, but I'm cleaning it up. You go ahead and finish the kitchen." Leo apologized as he hurriedly tried to clean up his mess.

"It's alright, it was an accident. Just make sure to put everything back where you found it." She replied as calmly as she could. She turned back around and went back to the kitchen, mentally slapping herself for not putting the top secret flash drive in a safer spot.

Leo was left on the floor, wondering why he detected Anna's adrenalin levels spike when she saw the mess. He looked around and saw the flash drive that he had bumped with his foot. Leo remembered Anna eyeing the small device. He picked up the flash drive and played with it in his hands. He did a quick look around to check if the coast was clear. It was. One of his fingers did a mini transformation and hooked up to the flash drive. Leo instantly downloaded all the flies on the little device. After he put the flash drive back in the purse, he headed to the living room. There he looked through what he downloaded. He was surprised to find slightly blurry pictures of Optimus. They were taken from one of the helicopters on the night that Optimus was attacked in the National Forest. Leo searched through more files mentally and found research reports on energon that the government found at Optimus's crash site_. Why does Charlotte's mom have access to this?_ Leo thought to himself. _Is she part of that group that is trying to take Optimus?_ The iPod searched deeper into the files…his thoughts were confirmed. "Oh boy."

Orion and Leo ended up leaving later than they planned. The parents seemed to absolutely love them. They told the teenagers that they were welcomed to stop by anytime. The family waved as Orion drove out of sight. Back in the house, Charlotte was drawing in the living room, Tony was upstairs playing video games, and the parents began preparing for tomorrow's trip to the Grand Canyon. Tony had initially been upset about it because he had planned on going to the Linkin Park concert that night. However, he warmed up to the idea after his friend gave his ticket to his girlfriend instead of him. With everyone in the small town at the concert, they would be able to take awesome pictures of the Grand Canyon without people spread out in the background. The adults were about to go to bed when they noticed Charlotte asleep on the couch.

"You should carry her to bed. You haven't done that in ages, she might like it." Anna suggested to her husband.

Robert shrugged. "Why not, she's a light weight anyway." He put her sketch book aside and lifted his daughter up in his arms. He carried her up the stairs and disappeared into her room.

Anna was still downstairs. She glanced at the sketchbook and was curious to see what her child drew. She sat on the couch and opened it up. The book consisted of sketches of leaves, trees, and flowers in the beginning. Then it started switching to cartoons, like the Ninja Turtles and drawings of her iPod. Charlotte drew little robot looking iPods after her original drawings. _Odd_, Anna thought. As she turned the next page, she stood up and gasped in shock. There on the page, was the alien that she was hunting. The drawing looked exactly like it. The sketch was too good for a one time sighting, the image had too many details. Anna turned another page and saw the giant alien again, except there was the iPod robot on its shoulder this time. In the drawing they both were laughing, _wait robots don't laugh,_ she thought to herself. She turned to the last page that had drawings on it and saw that Charlotte had drawn Orion and Leo. After their portraits, the pages were blank. She turned back to the alien robot page, and couldn't help but dread how she was going to have to bring her daughter in for questioning. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she pushed her worry away as Robert came back down the stairs.

"I don't remember the last time I tucked them in." He whispered with a tired grin on his face. "I feel old. They're so big now."

Anna hugged him. "It's okay you big baby." She felt him chuckle from his chest, which is where she was resting her head. "Let's go to bed. It's been quite a night." He agreed and they began making their way to the bedroom, with Anna taking one last look behind her at her daughter's sketchbook.

Back in Charlotte's room, she was abruptly awakened by a very impatient iPod. "Wake up!" Leo lightly pulled on her wavy hair. "Come on Lottie, wake up."

"I'm up! What do you want?" She yawned. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw that Optimus was outside her window, looking curiously inside her room. "What's going on Leo? Why is Optimus here?"

The Prime answered for himself. "He would not let me recharge until we all talked about something he wanted to share with us." Whispered Optimus tiredly. He shifted his gaze to Leo, "Now what is it that you wanted to talk about so urgently?" Leo told them all that he saw on Charlotte's mom's flash drive. The iPod told them how she was working with that group that was after Optimus. Charlotte couldn't believe her ears. Her mom was the bad guy? Optimus, as usual, hid his true emotions and reacted calmly. "Leonardo and I will have to be extremely careful around her so she doesn't suspect anything. I may have to move my base farther away too, as a precaution."

Charlotte didn't like this news. "What if we can change her mind?" She saw the confused looks she received, and elaborated. "Like what if she met the real you and she saw that you're a good guy. She'll stop hunting you."

Optimus wished it was that easy, but it never was. "Charlotte, she is an adult. She won't be as accepting as you and your friends are. It is her job to hunt me down from the look of things. But for now do not worry about it, I'll take care of it. You get some rest for your family trip tomorrow."

Charlotte wanted to protest, but knew she wouldn't win the fight. "Fine." She crawled back into bed. She reached for the covers, which were at the bottom of the bed, but a manly hand beat her to it. She was gently pushed back into the bed and the covers were brought up for her. "Thanks," she murmured as she was re-tucked into bed. "Night Optimus." She heard his holoform say goodnight back, before it disappeared.

The next morning, the family left the house at nine o'clock sharp. Once they got past the heavy traffic for the concert, it took them an hour to get to the Grand Canyon. They reached one of the Wonders of the World around 10:45. Robert had been right, it was practically deserted of guests. There was barely any staff too. The family didn't need a tour guide for their trip. Robert had worked at the Grand Canyon before becoming a police officer. They hiked down to the bottom and to the river. Anna was able to use her feminine skills and bargain a great deal for a raft.

"But I don't want to get wet," Tony complained as the raft was put into the cold water.

"Oh for the love of- Get in!" His father demanded. He wasn't going to have any of this today. "Even your sister is getting in, and she's a girl! Man up." Tony got in the raft, clearly not amused.

Charlotte laughed and sat next to her brother. She started helping him tighten his life jacket. "There, now if you go overboard-"

"What? Yeah right, like it'll save me. You go overboard in these rapids, you ain't ever coming out." Tony tightened her life jacket as well.

She gave him an incredulous look, "Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine." Tony just turned away and put on sunblock, he felt that he was dark enough. Charlotte grinned mischievously as she leaned down and over the raft. She suddenly splashed Tony with the ice cold water.

"Yikes!" Tony looked for his attacker, and saw the guilty smile on his sister's face. "Why you little-"

"Enough! Both of you knock it off. Today is supposed to be a family fun day so you two are going to stop going for each other's throats and have fun!" The teenagers were silenced by their father's outbreak, but when he wasn't looking, they made funny faces at each other. That didn't go unnoticed by their mom though; she just rolled her eyes at the whole situation.

The family had traveled deep into the canyon and were finally coming across some rapids. They were maneuvering their way through just fine, with Robert directing of course. He pretty much was the family's tour guide. It was when they came across one of the most dangerous parts of the river that Charlotte unfastened her seatbelt. She knew that if her mother was ever going to believe that Optimus was one of the good guys, she would have to see it for herself. Charlotte also knew that Optimus would never agree to her being put in danger, so she made plans of her own. Holding her breath, Charlotte made it look like an accident and was suddenly thrown overboard.

"Charlotte!" Her parents yelled together.

"Stop the raft!" Robert demanded, but his efforts were useless. The rushing water kept pulling them further and further away from where Charlotte had fallen.

"I don't see her! I don't see her!" Anna panicked. It took a while before Charlotte raised her head above the water, and when she did, she was coughing up a storm. But she was quickly pulled back down into the freezing water. When she finally emerged again, she started flailing her arms, trying to flag down her family. But they were already too far away, even if they threw a rope. They saw her, but couldn't do anything about it. Charlotte was harshly pulled down again, swallowing water. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Anna started unbuckling her own seatbelt.

Her husband stopped her. "Anna, we can't do anything! If one of us goes in, we too will get stuck! Let's go to shore and when she passes we'll throw her a rope." The family pulled onto the nearest shore and quickly jumped out of the raft. Robert, breathing heavily, had a rope ready, but Charlotte was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?! I can't see her!" Anna couldn't take it anymore. She tried pushing past Robert to dive into the river, but her Robert got in the way and wouldn't budge.

Robert was about to talk some sense into his wife when Charlotte came back up and they heard her cry for help. "Help!" She choked up water this time. "Please!" Robert spun on his heel when he heard her. All rationale thought went out the window upon hearing his daughter's cries. He was about to jump into the water when everyone was suddenly engulfed in shade. He looked up to see a whirl of red and blue before it disappeared into the 40 foot deep river.

"What…" he barely managed to question before a tidal wave came and splashed all of them on the shore.

"Was that the…?" Anna mumbled unbelievably, spitting out water. _It couldn't be…_but then the extraterrestrial robot suddenly emerged from the rushing water with Charlotte held high above the water in its hand. _It saved her?_ The red and blue robot swam with one arm to the shore where the soaked Ire family had gathered and gently put Charlotte down in front of them. It was Anna's turn, "What?!"

"Mom, Dad, I can explain," Charlotte started when she was done coughing up water and pulling her hair out of her face.

A dripping wet Tony finally spoke up, he was surprisingly calm the whole time. "Yeah, and I can back her up."

Robert had a surprised, yet worried look on his face, while Anna just had a confused and mistrusting expression as they gazed at the kneeling titan. Robert ran a hand through his wet hair as he cleared his throat to get rid of the uncertainty in his voice and looked at Charlotte, also dripping wet, who was standing defensively in front of the robot. "Okay go ahead, the floor is yours."

Charlotte was getting a little tired of always explaining the story behind Optimus, but she had to do it. She told her parents about the crash landing, how it was Optimus who helped her find her way back, and about the bear attack they didn't know about. Tony added in how it was also Optimus who pulled him and his friends out of the truck before it exploded, saving all of their lives. The teens just talked about all the good he has done, purposely leaving out that Optimus helped Charlotte and her friends sneak into a National Park since that could down grade his image. Once they were done making the Prime sound awesome, they told their parents about the civil war and how Optimus was the leader of his fraction and how he was stuck on Earth.

Robert gulped, "Well then, is that it?" He looked at Optimus no longer worried, but grateful. "Thank you Optimus Prime Sir, it seems that you have saved my children's lives more than I thought, even when you didn't have too." He smiled appreciatively.

"You have raised them well, Mr. Ire. But it seems that no matter what they do, trouble has a way of seeking them out." Optimus joked. Robert laughed, yeah he could get use to this bot, even if his voice sounded strangely familiar. Optimus changed his cheerful gaze to a serious one when he laid his optics on a fitful Anna Ire. "Is there something you would like to share, Mrs. Ire?"

She looked at him accusingly. But when she looked at her family, she knew she could no longer keep her job a secret. "Yes, I haven't been entirely honest on what I do for a living." Robert had a confused and slightly frustrated look on his face. "Let me finish before you all start asking questions. Yes, I work for the government, but not in the way you think. I am part of a secret organization ran by the government called Sector 7. Sector 7 is a secret American government agency, which deals with extraterrestrial technology and threats. We were informed when a UFO hit Earth, but the response team was late due to the weather. I had the weekend off when all of that was happening, little did I know the extraterrestrial was so close." She halfheartedly laughed. "Over a year ago, I was reassigned to another team of Sector 7 called Timber Wolves. This team is the one that does all the capturing, so let's just say I know how to kick butt." She got her children to laugh. "It was with this team that I saw my first E.T. and it was you Optimus. Though I am curious as to why you were in a National Park…"

All eyes were on the Prime. Charlotte came to his rescue and told everyone about her paper with her friends. Her parents weren't proud of her sneaking into a National Park, but hey, it's too late now. And it was at this time that Leo finally decided to reveal himself. That was a story in and of itself. Leo was the one who told the parents that it was he and Optimus that were their guests last night. It was a long car ride home of explaining everything to everyone.

But even with all these secrets now revealed, life didn't really change for the Ire family. Robert and Anna kept going to work while Charlotte and Tony kept going to school, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened over that weekend. The only significant change was the family's home life. Instead of just the four of them, there was now six living on the Ire property. The parents knew Optimus and Leo had nowhere else to go, so they welcomed them to everything they had. The bots still spent most of the time outside at Optimus's base, but they were often at the house in their human forms helping out whenever they could. Robert appreciated the extra muscle, literally, from Optimus, and Anna enjoyed the extra help Leo provided. Things were good now that Charlotte and Tony no longer stressed with keeping the bots a secret.

* * *

><p><strong>Happy ending, no death, yay! And now the parents know! Fun fun! I love feedback from y'all<strong>

**Also, all the autobots were specifically named in this chapter so you guess can guess which one of them is the Traitor! **


	14. Chapter 14: Suspicious Character

**Chapter 14: Suspicious Character**

Summer va-ca! The time when teens can finally sleep in pretty much every day and don't have to worry about grades. Charlotte loved summer vacation. She loved making plans to do nothing. What she loved even more though, was being home alone and therefor having her own personal concert. Her dad was at work, while Tony, Anna, and Leo were all shopping for college supplies for Tony. She only had to worry about Optimus who was at his base organizing the energon storage.

Ever since the parents found out about the bots, Anna and Optimus always had serious talks about her work. Anna promised to keep Sector 7 off Optimus's trail if they ever got close, but Optimus was already doing a good job at staying off the radar. He was mainly interested on what Sector 7 already knew. She told him that the agency mainly just found small pockets of energon deposits along with old mechanical parts, and that there hadn't been a 'confirmed' sighting of one his kind since the early 1800s. Since then, there have only been unconfirmed sightings that resembled the transformers. But since none of them could be confirmed they couldn't be documented. She told Optimus how one of her co-works supposedly caught one, but it got away. There were always stories, but none confirmed so they couldn't be taken into account.

But all that is in the past, and Charlotte was enjoying the present. She honestly didn't care if Optimus could hear her off-key singing; she was THAT close to him now. They were best friends, and she personally felt honored that she was the one that Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, opened up to. She was singing "You Got a Friend in Me" as she heated up leftover pizza for lunch.

_You've got a friend in me  
>You've got a friend in me<br>When the road looks rough ahead  
>And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed<br>You just remember what your old pal said  
>Boy you've got a friend in me<br>Yeah you've got a friend in me_

She was about to take her first bite when the doorbell rang. "Oh, come on," she huffed as she put down her pizza. She peeked through the peeky-hole and saw that it was one of Tony's old friends, Freddy. She opened the door and greeted him, still in her favorite American flag pajama pants and pink tank top. "Hiya Freddy, haven't seen you in a while."

"Ssshhharllleetttte, man! Look at chu! Alls grownd up, niiiiice." Freddy observed.

"Haha, thanks." But now that Charlotte saw the outside world for the first time in three days, she finally realized it was raining. "Oh gosh! Come inside so you don't get all wet!" She opened the door wider and the young adult stepped in. He'd been to the house before, so he just wandered over to the living room and made himself comfortable. "So whatcha doing here?" Charlotte asked as she went back to the kitchen to eat her pizza.

"Uh…oh yeah, your brother and I were gonna hang today. Umm…he said sssomething 'bout him ssshopping first, then we hang. Ya know?" Freddy mumbled confusedly. It seemed hard for him to focus.

"That's cool. Hey did you want some pizza or something?" Charlotte offered.

"Neh it's cool. Ssssaaay….where is everyone?" He asked as he looked around, seeing no one.

Charlotte replied from inside the fridge, trying to find a drink for her meal. "Everyone's out. But Tony should be back soon. I'm sure he won't mind if you hang out in his room, so you can go up there and wait for him if you want." She pulled out the tea container, poured herself some, and put it back in the fridge. When she turned around to resume eating her now cold pizza, she ran into Freddy's chest. She jumped at the sudden contact, which caused the tea to fly all over her. "What the heck? Sorry, didn't know you were so close…" She trailed off as she got a woof of Freddy's scent. He smelled funky, like a really bad funky. "Are you on-"

Freddy cut her off. "Sssooo no one's here?" He saw her eyes narrow. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." He pushed Charlotte back against the fridge, making her spill her drink all over the floor.

"Back off Freddy!" Charlotte tried to push back.

But Freddy roughly grabbed her arms and pinned them to her side. "No, no, ssshhh you're going to enjoy thisss. Trussttt me."

Charlotte tried not to panic, but was failing miserably. _This is NOT happening!_ "Fred-d-dy you-you're not think-thinking s-straight…" her voice was shaky as unwanted hands started going for her parts. Said hands were no longer pinning her now that she thought about it. "Get away from me!" Charlotte pushed with all her might and shoved Freddy back, making him slip on the wet floor and fall. With this new distance, she made a break for the back porch. She tore across the porch in a second and soon jumped off, forgetting about using the steps. It was pouring outside now and she slipped on the muddy ground, ruining her pajamas. She fell hard, but scurried back to her feet when she heard herself being perused.

"Ssshhharllleetttte!" Freddy creepily taunted as he jumped and tackled her onto the muddy ground. He landed on top of her and turned her over before he pinned Charlotte with his dripping wet, filth covered body.

Charlotte's voice cracked with fear as she screamed, "Optimus! Help! Help me!"

"Scream all you wantsss babe…" Freddy's hand was creeping up her shirt, which was now sticking to her damp body, when it suddenly felt like an earthquake was happening. He pulled his hand out when he looked up into the forest to see trees flying out of the way of something huge. Freddy fell back, off of Charlotte, with a shriek as a soaking wet, leaf, and mud covered Optimus came bursting through the forest with guns fired up and aiming at him.

"Get away from the girl," Optimus lowly growled menacingly.

"I…a…ah…" Freddy stuttered.

"NOW!" By that time, Charlotte had already shot up and was at the Prime's feet. He picked her up so fast, it didn't even look like he bent down. He held her close to his dripping wet, metallic neck; and she buried herself into it, crying. Optimus held her slightly tighter, but then glared death at Freddy. "If I ever catch you near her again, I swear to Primus I will kill you!" And he meant it. Heck, he felt like powering up to his Super Mode and all out annihilate the guy right then and there.

Freddy knew he'd be toast if he stayed much longer and ran back into the house like bat outta hell. He tripped several times before he grabbed his car keys, breaking several things along the way; and tore out of there across the front lawn, leaving behind muddy tire tracks.

Optimus turned his attention back to a sobbing Charlotte. "Hey, there there…" he powered down his guns and put them away. He gently rubbed the middle of her soaked and mud-covered back with his huge finger, trying to sooth her. "Charlotte, it's alright. He's gone." He started heading back to his base, stepping over the numerous fallen trees.

"I! Ah HE! *hiccup* tried *hiccup* he tried to," she sucked in a sharp breath, "to, he…" she burst out crying again, still absolutely terrified at what almost happened.

It took every circuit in Optimus's body to not go hunt down Freddy. He slightly shook with anger, but calmed down since he had to be there for Charlotte. "Charlotte," he tried getting her attention, but she started hyperventilating. He started pulling her way from his neck so he could look her in the eye, but she clung onto him. He eventually plucked her slippery body from him, and she started freaking out. "Charlotte…Lottie?" He tried her nickname. She stopped moving altogether, and shakily glanced up at Optimus, forgetting to breath. Optimus smiled his best comforting smile, the one he only gave her. "Lottie, don't forget to breath. That's something humans need to do, remember?" Optimus got her to smile a bit. "Oh! There she is, that's my Charlotte." Optimus lifted her chin to look him in the eye and moved her wet hair that was stuck to her face to behind her ear. She started to calm down and slow her breathing. "There you go, just like that." He encouraged. He held her close to his spark with one hand, and shielded the pouring rain from her with his other. Much like the first time they met, but this time she was the one hurting. "You're alright, you're okay, and you're safe with me." By the time he got to his base, Charlotte was breathing normally and calm. His A-framed shelter could keep them from getting wet, but it would make comforting Charlotte harder. Optimus instead went to the next best rain shelter, which was a huge thick tree. He went to it and sat on the marshy ground under it. He leaned against the tree and looked down at Charlotte, who was still in his hands at his chest. He continued to rub her back and waited for her to talk when she was ready.

Charlotte had her eyes closed while she rested against Optimus's chest, listening to the rain and feeling his spark beat. She knew she was now the safest human on the planet with him protecting her. But it still took her a bit to open up. She eventually did. "I shouldn't've opened the door…I don't know what I was thinking." Optimus quietly listened to her, without any interruptions. The only thing he really did was hold her tighter every once in a while. "Then you showed up and scared the crap out of him," Charlotte tiredly smiled. She felt Optimus chuckle. Charlotte looked up at him to see him looking in the direction of the house, with a smirk on his face. "What?"

Optimus bowed his head and had a mischievous glint in his optics. "Funny thing is, I made him do just that."

"Wait, are you saying-?" laughter was building in Charlotte's voice.

"Yup, I made him 'crap his pants'…as the phrase goes."

Charlotte cracked up, followed by Optimus. "Well the jerk deserves it! Heck, he deserves worst…"

"It would be smart to report him and get him off the streets."

"I will, but later." Charlotte agreed. "Right now I like where I am." She snuggled into Optimus. They didn't speak for a while, they were just enjoying each other's company. But Charlotte remembered something that Optimus said when he came to rescue her, "Hey Optimus, did you mean what you said earlier? Would you've killed Freddy?"

The Prime was silent for he did not want to admit that he would have killed the human called Freddy, breaking HIS own rules. But he answered nevertheless, just bending the truth a little. "I ah…I take you as being my charge very seriously. And I will protect you from anything to everything, human or decepticon." He felt Charlotte press herself more into his chest, feeling reassured. A soft smile appeared on his metal face as he gazed down at her with protective optics, though he had no idea why he was smiling. _Maybe it's because I can be vulnerable around her. I don't need to be Optimus Prime when I'm with her, I can be myself, Orion…_He wanted to just pause time and live in this moment, with her cuddling his chest in his protecting arms.

"Optimus? Why is your spark beat getting faster?" Charlotte felt the vibrations get quicker and wanted to know why they did.

Again, the autobot leader twisted the truth. "I was just thinking what would've happened to you if I wasn't there. And I fear for your safety."

"oh…"

He had an idea. "Charlotte, how about I teach you self-defense? It doesn't hurt to know how to defend yourself. Now that I think about it, I need to teach Leonardo how to fight too…"

Charlotte jumped up in his hands, excited. "That would be awesome! My mom can even help, she has training. Shoot, I can be like Black Widow!"

"Baby steps, Charlotte, baby steps…" Optimus said as he rolled his optics. "You still have a lot of growing up to do." In the distance, he heard Anna, Tony, and Leo returning from their shopping trip. "Your mother is back. And from the sounds of her hurried footsteps, she's worried." He stood up and put Charlotte on his shoulder, it was lightly sprinkling now so she wouldn't get too wet. "She's going to want answers. We better get moving."

"This is going to be fun," Charlotte mumbled.

"I'll be there with you the whole time. It's going to be alright." Optimus felt Charlotte crawl to under his neck, a place she has grown to like.

They reached the edge of the backyard right as Anna, Tony, and Leo came to the back. They were surprised to see a path of knocked down trees leading to Optimus's base. They approached the huge Cybertronian, wondering what had happened. Optimus set Charlotte on the ground. His holoform appeared right as Charlotte was tackled with love from her mother and brother.

"Are you okay? What happened? Why are you covered in mud? The house looks like a mess. Why was the front door open? Charlotte what happened?" Anna demanded answers once she and Tony finally released her.

But now that she was free, she got attacked by Leo in his holoform. "Don't scare me like that, Lottie!" He squeezed her pretty tight, but still let her go. "So what happened? I wanna know too."

They gathered on the back porch to finish the rest of the conversation since it was still sprinkling. Charlotte purposely sat next to Optimus on the bench, she wanted him close for reassurance. There, she took a deep breath and told them what happened in just enough detail so they got the general story. "And from the sound of things, Freddy made a mess in his attempt to get as far away from here as possible. Optimus kinda scared the crap out of him." She and Optimus shared a look, both with smirks on their faces.

Leo shot up from his seat on the other side of Optimus, outraged. "Where is this guy?! Let me at him, let me at him!" Leo demanded as he headed for the front.

But Optimus grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him down without even looking in Leo's direction. "Sit down."

"Yes Sir."

"No, I'm with Leo on this one." Tony agreed from where he was leaning against the railing. "I swear the next time I see him-"

"Tony that's enough. We'll report him later. What I want to know is why in the first place you would ever befriend a guy like Freddy?" Anna asked, disapproving of her son's choice of friends.

"The only reason why I still talk to him is because I'm the only friend he has left that hasn't given up on him. I was going to try and help him get his life back together. I'm sorry, mom."

Anna messed with Tony's wet hair, understanding in her eyes. "You're a good friend. But maybe what Freddy needs is professional help. Now," she grabbed her two children and pulled them into a tight hug, "you're both safe and away from danger"

Charlotte hugged her mom back. "Mom, Optimus and I were talking and, well, he's going to train me in self-defense. But I wouldn't mind learning a little from you either."

She got her mom to laugh. "Good idea. Your dad knows some stuff too, so I guess from now on we're having family training days."

Leo butted in with a quick song quote.

_Let's get down to business  
>To defeat the Huns.<em>

He got skeptical looks from everyone. "What? Y'all gonna be a kick-A family, nothing wrong with that." Leo winked and gave them a thumbs up.

But the cheery atmosphere had to change to a serious one. Anna reported Freddy and soon cops were at the house doing an investigation. By the time they got there, Optimus had fixed all the trees to make it NOT look like a towering giant had come running through. But the officers were able to find enough evidence in the house and on Charlotte, for she had bruises where Freddy had grabbed her. Freddy was tracked down and soon, they took the investigation to court. No one believed Freddy's statement about a giant robot saving Charlotte, so he was found guilty and sent to jail. But he didn't get too much time since he never actually committed the act.

The Ire family slept in peace knowing that Freddy was behind bars. Things were back to normal, well, almost. Charlotte was a little more jumpy and not so naïve, yes, but now Optimus wasn't so sure on how he felt for Charlotte. He knew he greatly cared for her, but he knew he shouldn't care for her way he did…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Autobot Headquarters (Praxus) <strong>_

In any war, there are calms between storms. Ironhide found himself enjoying the calms more then he use to now that he was leader of the autobots. _But these are the autobots we're talking about. Since when is there ever a calm moment at base? _Ironhide thought as he entered the full rec room with closed optics.

"Bulkhead I Needed That!" was the first thing that reached his audio receptors.

Ironhide opened his optics to see Bulkhead being strangled by an enraged Ratchet with a broken foot stool nearby. _Typical…_Ironhide continued to survey the room. Jazz was at the stereo system trying to get it working once more, the wreckers were lobbing last week and well, they broke it…again. Sideswipe and Moonracer were at a corner table getting a little too comfortable for Firestar and Jetfire's liking. Firestar didn't like how friendly Moonracer always was with all the mechs, and Jetfire really didn't want pregnant warriors. Judging by Firestar eying the dart board behind the two love birds, and Jetfire handing her some darts, the two had temporarily teamed up to split the pair up. _It'll be interesting to see how that ends being how Firestar can't throw darts for the life of her…_Ironhide continued to look around the room until his optics fell on Chromia. She was walking past Cliffjumper and Wheeljack, who were arm wrestling, to a set of couches with two servings of energon. She sat down next to Moonshadow and handed him one of the energon servings. He snuck closer to hear what they were talking about.

"Ah, I thought I asked you to get me some of the high-grade energon?" Moonshadow complained with a puppy dog face.

Chromia giggled before she sipped some of her high-grade, taunting the young mech. "Um, excuse me. You're a little too young, remember?"

"Only like by a year."

"HA! More like several. You still got some time to mature into a full grown adult. But trust me, it's not all that…"

"I highly doubt that it'll be much different then now. I already pretty much take care of myself." Moonshadow grumbled, staring into his drink.

Chromia sighed and then scooted closer to put her arm around the black and dark blue mech's shoulders. "I get it. In war, times are hard. You're young, and this is all you've ever known. But trust me, there's more to life then just taking one." She squeezed Moonshadow's shoulders in a side hug, feeling bad for him. "If you ever need anything, just come to Ironhide and me. Legally, you should still be living with a parent or guardian anyways. You refused to be treated like a youngling, and we respect your choice. I'm just letting you know that it's okay for you to act like a youngling every once in a while." She gave him one last pat on the back, then returned to her original seat.

Ironhide was beaming at his mate. _Primus I love her…_he loved seeing her nurturing side. Don't get him wrong, he fell head over heels for her hardcore ways, but it was rare that she acted sweet in public. _I'll talk scrap about it later to her_, he thought to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Prowl walk up to him. He turned to the tactician. "Evening Prowl, now what do I need to do for you to relax a little and have a drink?"

"Funny," was the ninja bot's crisp reply. "I don't drink unless I really want to forget something." The black and white mech glanced over to where Ironhide was previously looking before he walked up. When he saw Moonshadow with Chromia, a small frown formed on his normally calm face plates. "I highly recommend that you and your mate stay away from him. He's high on the suspect list after all and I see no reason why the spy wouldn't want to take you out of the picture. You play a vital role in this war."

"Duly noted…but can't you cut the youngling some slack. Primus, you and Jetfire are both dead set that it's him."

"There's enough evidence that it is most likely him." Prowl pointed out. "His medical reports show that he has a habit of constantly showing up late for his checkups. What I want to know is what he is doing that is so important that he can't get to Ratchet on time? We all know that it is not in any mech's best interest to get on that medic's bad side."

Ironhide laughed as he looked in the direction of the lime green autobot medic. Bulkhead was currently the new foot rest until he could fix the old one. "True, I guess Ratchet has a soft spot for him."

"And that's either a really good thing, or a really bad thing." The tactician continued on his previous argument. "Moonshadow is simply a suspicious bot. His only real friend is Bumblebee. And if he isn't with him, then no bot knows where he is. Unlike Wheeljack, everybody always knows where he is, just follow the sound of explosions and laughing, followed by an 'oops, sorry'. The same goes for Cliffjumper, that mech can't seem to keep his mouth shut."

All of Prowl's observations made Ironhide smirk. _The things you notice…if only you knew…_ "You sure do notice a lot, don't cha?"

"I can't help it. But Ironhide," the officer changed his tone to a more serious one, "I am almost sure the traitor is Moonshadow. Let me arrest him and question him."

Ironhide narrowed his optics. "Do you have enough proof to do that?" he was NOT okay with this assumption. "Well, do ya?"

The smaller mech didn't back down. "Listen, the main thing that is going against Moonshadow is that he is the only stranger among the autobots. The rest of us have been in this fight since the beginning. We found Moonshadow a couple of days after Optimus went missing. Soon after he arrived, the decepticon raids started. There's a lot of evidence pointing at the youngling."

Sighing, Ironhide agreed with Prowl. "Fine, but he is still under aged. Don't put him in the brig, just assign him to something that involves him constantly being watched and possibly questioned without it being obvious." He regarded Prowl for a moment. "Actually, I think I'll assign him to you as your personal assistant." The officer was about to complain, but Ironhide held his hand up. "You're a boring workaholic who could use the extra help. Besides, maybe after a week with you he's gonna wish he did go to the brig." Prowl's unimpressed/annoyed expression forced Ironhide to stifle his laugh. "But I'll assign him to you in the morning. I'll let him enjoy his last night of freedom, and I'll let you enjoy your last night of being a loner." He dismissed Prowl. Ironhide watched the law enforcer head straight for the bar and get the strongest high-grade energon. He chugged it in moments, and soon got another. Prowl's actions caused the autobot leader to full on laugh out loud. "Well… I got him to have a drink."

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-da! There we go, another chapter. I will admit, this chapter didn't have much stuff going on, but these events needed to happen. And HEY! Good news for ya readers, ima have the next one done on Wednesday. That chapter is gonna be considered a <strong>**fun****, but also necessary chapter. **

**Here's a little sneak peak:**

The brunette thought about her predicament. She glanced at her sketchbook that was on the table. She picked it up and did a quick sketch. After a little fine tuning to her art work, she showed her friends a drawing of a boy with a ponytail in a tuxedo. "How do you guys think Optimus looks in a tux?"

**And the song that Leo plays is "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from the Disney movie Mulan **


	15. Chapter 15: Prom

**Freddy and Moonshadow better sleep with two eyes/optics open. You guys are out to get them lol.**

**Thanks to all y'all that left a review, I love reading them ;)**

**This was a fun chapter to write, so i hope y'all like it 3**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Prom<strong>

It was the beginning of April of Charlotte's junior year. Girls left and right were being asked to prom, which still wasn't for a couple of weeks. Charlotte and her friends were sitting at their lunch table when they saw another girl get asked to prom. Everyone in the cafeteria gave a quick round of applause since the girl said yes.

"Aw," Clarissa smiled after she stopped clapping, "love is in the air." Christine responded by fake gaging and started holding her breath. She pretended to pull out air freshener and spray it around. Charlotte and she laughed. "Well of course you two don't care, neither of you have dates."

"In my defense, I have Asian parents who won't let me date till they're dead." Christine pointed out. "But what about you, Charlotte? Why don't you have a date?"

In all of Charlotte's seventeen years of living, she never had a boyfriend. She had tried a few dates with a few guys, but they were just a waste of her time. "You guys know why. All the guys here at our school are immature jerks, or the good ones are already taken."

"True dat," Christine sighed. That's when she saw a group of jocks coming toward their table. "Speaking of immature jerks…"

The rich leader of the jocks, Trent DeMarco, walked right up to Charlotte and grabbed the seat next to her. "Is this seat empty?"

"Yes, and this one will be if you sit down." All his buddies, and hers, started snickering. "What do you want, Trent?"

The nicely muscled, blonde teen rested his tan arms on the table and leaned in real close to Charlotte, making her lean back. "Well, I happen to think that you're the best looking girl here-"

Charlotte dramatically gasped. "Really? Well, I'd better go find the best looking guy then, hadn't I!"

Trent didn't get the hint; or if he did, he chose to ignore it. "Exactly! So will you go to prom with me?"

Charlotte couldn't think of a good comeback this time, "ah…"

"Come on, Char, I know you don't have a date. I made sure all the guys in the school steered clear of you so I could have you." Trent was filthy rich so everyone always listened to him.

But she didn't care who his daddy was. She was inches away from slapping Trent with her burrito, but that would have been a waste of a perfectly good lunch. "Actually, Trent, I do have a date." The football player was about to yell in outrage, but she put a finger to his lips. "He doesn't go to our school so don't go pounding someone." She pulled her hand back to let him speak.

Trent leaned back. "Alright then, if that's how you wanna play it. I'll see ya at prom. But if I don't see you dancing with some guy, then you'll be dancing with me." He and his buddies retreated to go find some other teenager to torment.

Charlotte was left silently fuming with her friends. "I can't believe that guy! That stinky rich kid thinks he can get whatever he wants! I swear when the zombie apocalypse happens I'm shooting everyone I ever wanted dead, zombie or not!"

"That's great Charlie, but you got other problems to think about during the pre-apocalypse." Christine rolled her eyes. "Like what ya gonna do about your date for prom? You can't take any guy from here, and all of Tony's friends are over eighteen. Whatcha gonna do?"

The brunette thought about her predicament. She glanced at her sketchbook that was on the table. She picked it up and did a quick sketch. After a little fine tuning to her art work, she showed her friends a drawing of a boy with a ponytail in a tuxedo. "How do you guys think Optimus looks in a tux?"

* * *

><p>"No"<p>

"Ah, come on!"

"I said no."

"But you dressed up for Halloween, how is this any different?"

"You needed adult supervision and I didn't want to be the only one not in a costume."

Charlotte smiled to herself, remembering that night. "You did make the coolest Superman…" then she remembered she was in the middle of an argument, "But please! I need a date for prom, or else I'm stuck dancing with that jerk Trent."

Optimus knew Trent's reputation, and he wasn't comfortable knowing that the guy was interested in Charlotte. He heard Charlotte moving and looked down to see her holding a poster board up to him. It had a red autobot insignia made out of the word 'Prom' with a question mark under it. _Charlotte's puppy dog eyes are rivaled only by Bumblebee's…_hethought. "Fine, I'll go to prom with you." He finally gave in.

Charlotte jumped up with a triumphant "Yes!"

"You better get shopping for a red and blue dress."

If Charlotte could, she would have stopped midair with a confused expression. Instead, she landed back on the ground and tilted her head up at Optimus. "What do you mean?"

"I only come in two colors, babe." Optimus winked.

"Unbelievable…I thought the guys were supposed to be matching the girls, not the other way around." She rolled her eyes. Nevertheless, she smiled, happy that she had Optimus Prime as her prom date.

The next day, Charlotte had a surprise waiting for her in the parking lot. The bell had just rung for school to be out and students were spilling out of the classrooms. Word spread about what was in the parking lot and Charlotte soon found herself being herded there. When she got there she gasped in surprise.

"What!?"

Optimus was in his fire truck form, but it was entirely covered in mud and dirt. Written in the dirt was 'PROM?'. His ladder was fully extended out toward her and hanging on it was a banner with Charlotte's name on it. Standing in front of the scene was Optimus's holoform, Orion, with a dozen of red, white, and blue roses. His holoform looked a little younger then it usually did, but he still wore his normal clothes.

Charlotte was being pushed towards him by a bunch of giggling girls. "Go to him!" they were all saying.

When she was finally close enough, Optimus spoke. "Charlotte, will you go to prom with me?" He asked it nice and loud so everyone could hear.

She didn't answer right away; she was still taking in the whole situation. The entire school was waiting for her answer, though, and someone yelled, "Well!? Are you going with that hunk? If you don't, I will!"

Charlotte laughed as she took the flowers. "Yes!" She had to tiptoe to hug Optimus, but he helped her by wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. Everyone present let out a loud round of applause; girls were cheering, while the guys were going 'daaannngggg!' But all that ruckus was drowned out as hazel eyes met gold eyes. Charlotte couldn't help but giggle, "So what made you do all this?"

Girls would melt at the smile he gave her. "I believe the tradition is that the mech asks the femme to accompany him to a party." Charlotte blushed as she halfheartedly rolled her eyes while shaking her head. "And I wanted to make Trent look bad." Optimus was eyeing the teen, who had a dumbfounded look on his face. "I don't think he'll be bothering you anymore."

"Yeah, that's for sure. And you probably just put all the guys here to shame, I don't think any of their prom proposals were nearly as good." She gave Optimus another hug. She glanced at the dirt covered fire engine again. "So did you have fun rolling around in the dirt?"

"Oh you have no idea…"

Optimus, or as the teens knew him, Orion was the hot topic of the school. Girls thought he was drop dead gorgeous and wanted to know where he's been hiding. Charlotte came up with the answer that he went to a military school; and when she was asked how they met, she told them that they met while she was camping. She wasn't entirely lying, but she still wasn't telling the truth either. Everyone bought the story, though, so nobody even thought about if he was an alien, thank Primus for that.

_Prom Night _

Charlotte and Optimus were both getting ready at her house. Anna helped get Charlotte ready, while Robert and Tony helped Optimus. Robert was shockingly cool with Optimus taking his daughter to prom; it was something about how he trusted him to take good care of her. During the whole 'getting ready' process, Leo decided to be DJ of the house. He started off playing "Good Time" by Owl City, followed by "Masquerade" by Ashley Tisdale because he saw the lyrics as ironic.

_I won't mind trying on someone else  
>I won't mind seeing just how it felt<br>I might like changing my disguise  
>To make you happy <em>

There was one song that Leo purposely played with a smirk on his face while staring directly at Optimus. "Can't Help" by Parachute.

_Well I tried to fake it,  
>Baby I tried to break it,<br>But that's some kind of spell you got over me.  
>You're a heavenly vision,<br>Gonna make it my mission,  
>Do whatever it takes to get you with me.<em>

_Everywhere I go,_  
><em>Yeah, no one else I know,<em>  
><em>Shines as bright as you in my telescope.<em>  
><em>I tried to let it fade,<em>  
><em>But I can't get away,<em>  
><em>I really hope you're listening,<em>  
><em>'Cause I never thought I would say-ay-ay.<em>

_I can't help myself_  
><em>From falling in love,<em>  
><em>From falling in love<em>  
><em>With you yeah-yea<em>  
><em>I can't help myself,<em>  
><em>From taking the drug,<em>  
><em>From taking the drug<em>  
><em>It's you, yeah-yea.<em>  
><em>It happens every time,<em>  
><em>Can't get you off my mind,<em>  
><em>And anybody else,<em>  
><em>Better wait in line.<em>  
><em>I can't help myself,<em>  
><em>From falling in love,<em>  
><em>From falling in love<em>  
><em>With you yeah-yea.<em>

All Optimus could do was mouth 'Shut up, Leo' since he was across the room. The iPod just playfully chuckled, knowing that his leader had feelings for Charlotte.

The finished product of Orion, done by Robert and Tony, looked handsome. He was wearing a navy blue tailed tuxedo with a white shirt along with a red vest and tie. There was an argument over whether or not he could keep his stray piece of bang out from his ponytail, but he won the dispute and kept it out. The rest of his hair was slicked back into a smooth ponytail; everyone thought he would look weird if he had his hair down.

"Charlotte! Come downstairs and look at my masterpiece!" Robert demanded from the living room.

"I'm comin, I'm comin," was the teenagers sassy reply. Not long after that was said, Charlotte made her way gracefully down the stairs, red and blue flowing behind her. When she reached the bottom, time stopped for Optimus. He ignored the song, "Your Touch" by Blake Lewis, which was playing, even though it was describing just how he felt on the inside.

_So haunt me, and feel me  
>I've been waiting for your touch<br>Your beauty consumes me  
>I never loved someone so...<br>So haunt me, and feel me  
>I've been waiting for your touch<br>Your beauty consumes me  
>I never loved someone so...<em>

Charlotte's giggle brought the humanized Prime out of his daze. "So how do I look?"

Optimus let his eyes roam over the human he was falling for, totally taken away. Her normally wavy hair was curly and it was down with the front sides of her hair pulled back by golden pins. Her eye makeup consisted of red, blue, and gold, making her eyes hypnotizing to Optimus. Her white teeth sparkled behind red lips. She was wearing a wavy, strapless high-low dress that swirled in the colors of red and blue. The top of her dress fit her curves very nicely, while the bottom flowed all about her. She had on gold earrings, bracelets, and heels. Any part of her body that wasn't covered by clothing was shining golden sparkles. "You look great! But you're missing something…" Optimus approached her with something shiny in his hands. Whatever it was, he placed it on the top of Charlotte's head. "Look," he guided her to a mirror. It was a small, golden tiara.

"Optimus, I love it!" Charlotte hugged him.

Anna approached the two with their red and blue corsage and boutonniere. "Here you two, put these on each other." They both did as they were told. "Aw! My baby is all grown up! And Optimus, you look so cute in a tux! Picture Time!" By the time that was over, Optimus and Charlotte were seeing stars. The family walked the pair out to the front porch, and said their goodbyes. Soon they were off to the restaurant that they were gonna have dinner at, but halfway to there, they realized they had a stowaway…Leo

"Leo what are you doing here?" Charlotte asked the little iPod.

"To keep an eye on you two," the little autobot responded with a smug look on his faceplates. There was a load rev of Optimus's engine. "Lol, jk! I'm going to prom! Don't worry, I won't be creeping on you guys. I just want to go par-tey!"

Charlotte let out a little giggle. "Fine, I'll sneak ya in."

"Sweet!"

They finally made it to the restaurant. There, Charlotte met up with her friends and their dates. Clarissa was with her boyfriend, while Christine was with her crush; a crush that her parents didn't know about…The girls all hugged each other while the boys shook hands. The boys didn't know 'Orion', but over dinner they got to know him and soon found out that he was a pretty cool guy. After dinner, they finally went to prom. There, the couples separated and Charlotte was able to let Leo loose. His holoform was wearing a white suit with a light blue tie that matched his hair.

"Yeah, he won't stand out." Optimus muttered as he watched Leo run out onto the dance floor.

Charlotte barely heard him over the music. "Stop worrying and have some fun!" She saw the photo area and dragged Optimus over to it.

"Why are we taking more pictures?"

"We're making memories here and I want to remember them, plus you make the picture look good when you're in it." She got him to chuckle. They took a picture at the backdrop area and then went to a crazy photo booth that had a bunch of off the wall props. They had a blast at that booth. After all the photo taking was done, they found a table to rest Charlotte's sore feet, curtesy of the high heels. Optimus found the refreshment table and got Charlotte a drink. "What? You don't want one?" she asked as he handed her the single drink he brought.

"I don't drink human beverages, remember?" Her laugh made his spark flutter. _Wait! That should not be happening! Get it together Prime. You know you can't be with any bot…bot…I guess the rules only apply if the femme is Cybertronian…No! Stop it…_ His thoughts made him sigh to himself. _Why can't I be happy? _He would have continued in his self-pity, but he noticed Charlotte's now rested foot tapping. She was looking at the dance floor that was full of her classmates. _I am her date, and it is my responsibility that she has a good time. _"Charlotte, do you want to dance?"

His question took her by surprise. "What?" She eyed the hand that he was offering her. "I…ah…I don't know how to dance." She admitted, shamefully looking down.

Optimus kindly smiled down at her. He tilted her chin to look back up at him. She looked into his golden eyes, trusting him. Without any words spoken, she put down her drink and Optimus led them to the dance floor. He noticed that it was a faster song so it would be harder to teach, but he would come up with something. Once they were a good way into the clutter of moving bodies, he pulled Charlotte to him. They stared at each other for a moment, but then Optimus moved to behind her and laid his hands on her waist. Her hands came to rest on top of his. He was right up against her when he whispered into her ear. "Get a feel for the beat," and he gently started swaying, and slowly sped up to the pace of the song. "Try bouncing a little and swaying your hips." His hands helped her with that; but once she felt comfortable, he started to move his feet, her following his movements. After that, he grabbed her arms and brought them up so she could use them to dance with. It looked like she got the hang of it, so he separated from her.

Charlotte stiffed up for a sec when she felt his warm body leave, but relaxed when she saw him in front of her. She saw him mouth 'Watch me' and watched him dance. All his movements were one, fluid motion. She tried mimicking him, and felt like she was dancing. She laughed since she was having a good time. Optimus would dance close to her, then back up, and then do it again, moving around. Charlotte liked the idea and started doing the same. They both had smiles on their faces, enjoying each other's company.

The song changed to "Tipsy" by J-Kwon, and before they knew what was happening, a dance circle had formed and they were near the front. Optimus gently grabbed Charlotte so they wouldn't get split up. They were about to make their way away from the circle, when a flash of light blue hair ran by. Leo was in the middle of the dance circle and he was showing off, making all the human boys look pathetic compared to what he had.

"Go Leo!" Charlotte cheered, and soon the crowd joined in. He became the new star of the dance floor. After that song, "Black Widow" by Iggy Azalea started playing and Charlotte couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, she was still training, but she still knew how to jack someone up if they messed with her. _I'm totally gonna be like_ _Natasha Romanova…_When a slow song started playing, Charlotte started making her way off the dance floor. But before she could get very far, she was softly pulled back by Optimus. She looked at him questionably, and saw that he wanted to slow dance.

"I'll lead." She was nervous as Optimus placed one of his hands on her hip and took her hand in his other.

"Of course you would want to slow dance the traditional way." To Optimus, her smile lit up the room.

"What are you going to do with me?" His smile was making her have butterflies in her stomach. They danced nice and slow with each other for the first slow song. By the time the next one came on, they were feeling really comfortable with one another. They started adding little twists, turns, and flicks in their dancing, making it look like they rehearsed it. Soon they had several heads tuning. By the time that song ended, everyone who was watching them thought that they should be on the show _Dancing with the Stars_. After that, a faster song started playing and the dance floor got crowded again. Optimus saw through his infrared vision that Charlotte's feet were causing her pain, curtesy of the heels she was wearing. Without her permission, he picked her up bridal style and carried her towards the tables.

"Hey! Put me…" she instantly felt the relief of pressure on her feet, "never mind…" She wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn't carry her too far, and soon sat her into a patted chair. He knelt in front of her and started taking her heels off for her. "I'm not entirely crippled, I can do that myself."

"As you wish…"

"Okay Mr. Sweetheart, you wanna get me a drink?" He nodded and took off back towards the refreshment table. Before he got there, however, he was attacked by Clarissa and Christine. They forced him back onto the dance floor. He danced with them for a song, and then tried to leave, only to get caught by Leo and pulled back into the crowd. This happened for quite a few songs. Him trying to leave, then somebody pulling him back. Some of those times he was getting pulled back by teens he didn't even know; they just wanted to dance with the good looking guy who everybody knew had some moves. Charlotte was watching Optimus's failed attempts of leaving with a grin on her face. She was quite content just watching, but of course someone had to ruin her good mood, that person being Trent.

"Hey Char, I don't see you dancing with anyone." The blonde said.

Charlotte let out an irritated whine, "Leave me alone."

Trent pulled up a seat next to her, much to her annoyance. "Come on now, you remember what I said. Dance with me." He gave her his very own smolder.

"No."

"Just one dance? Come on," He made a grab for her hand. She was about to flip Trent on his butt, but someone interfered by grabbing Trent's shoulder.

"Dude, just leave her alone. She's not interested." The guy that interfered was about five foot, six inches, just a hair shorter then Trent.

Trent responded by shoving the unwanted hand off his shoulder and stood up to face the stranger. "And who do you think you are?!" he growled in the brown haired teen's face.

The newcomer stayed calm, but still narrowed his brown eyes at the blonde. "Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, what does it matter? Just leave her alone."

Charlotte stifled a laugh, causing Trent to look her way. "What? He's funny…but still right. I'm not interested. Go impress some other girl with her money."

Trent was going to tell her off, but the stranger unintentionally cut in, "Charlotte!?"

His outburst made her jump a little, but she turned her attention to him, ignoring Trent. "Um…yes?"

"You…ah, you don't remember me?"

Charlotte looked harder, and suddenly jumped to her feet hugging the other brunette. "Derek! Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in, like, FOREVER! How ya been?" Trent was still standing in the background, and saw that he was forgotten about so he just leff.

"I'm doing good," Derek laughed as he hugged her back. "How long has it been? We were in first and second grade, remember?"

"Yeah! Man, good times. I can't believe it, I thought I'd never see you again after Tee-ball."

"It's been a long time. Let me look at you." Charlotte did a quick twist for him. "Geez, Charlabunga!"

"You're STILL calling me that! Only you," she smiled up at him. She also noted that her childhood friend grew up to be a rather dashing young man.

"Yeah girl, you were my Ninja Turtle buddy. Still are?"

"Cowabunga Dude!" They did their old handshake they use to do when they were in Tee-ball together. Optimus walked up with a drink in his hand to see the last bit of their handshake. He had a slightly confused expression on his face, but wiped it off when they both looked towards him. Charlotte saw the drink he had and grabbed it. "Thanks!" She took a quick sip, then introduced the two boys. "Derek, this is Orion. Orion, this is Derek."

"Hello Derek," Optimus shook his hand.

"Hi Orion!" He noticed that Optimus was dressed to match Charlotte. "You her boyfriend?"

Charlotte spoke for him, "No, I just wanted someone to come to prom with me. We're just friends."

Optimus didn't realize how much that would hurt; he felt like he was just hit by a train.

"Oh cool! So hey, I'll let you get back with him since he came with you." Derek was going to leave, but Charlotte still wasn't done catching up.

She grabbed Derek by his muscular arm. "No, it's okay. I still wanna hear about you. I haven't seen you since second grade." She turned to Optimus, whose face was blank. "Is that alright?"

He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts and hurt feelings. "Yes, of course." He faked a smile.

"Great! I'll see ya later," she called back to him as she and Derek left to go find a quieter place to talk.

Optimus was left standing alone, feeling like a kicked puppy. Leo decided to pop up right next to him.

"Well Boss, you almost got out of the friendzone…"

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! All the songs in the chapter belong to their rightful owners, so of course they get all the credit. Same goes for the show <em>Dancing with the Stars.<em>**


	16. Chapter 16: Disappear

**SunnySides: For some reason I wasn't able to respond to your review, so i'm doing it now. I am glad that you like the story so much :) and i have been trying to update ASAP but I had a bunch of major projects due and genius me decided to procrastinate...sorry leaving ya hanging**

So this originally was supposed to be one long chapter, but i split it up again. The next one 'should' be up real soon

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 16: Disappear<strong>

_**Cybertron - Kaon**_

By now, most of the decepticons have lowered their standards for leader. They had to accept that Starscream was in command and Megatron wasn't coming back. Of course not all decepticons believed that Megatron was gone, those were the most loyal. And too bad for Starscream cause the best decepticons in the army were the ones loyal to Megatron and he alone. They constantly questioned his command, though if he could get Blackout to trust him, Starscream felt that he could win the others over as well. Then again, the only reason why Blackout put up with Starscream was because he went back and saved Scorponok. Blackout rarely caused problems anymore, but now it was seeker twins, Dreadwing and Skyquake, who always questioned Starscream.

"Things are looking good for the autobots. Ironhide has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. What is your plan? If you have one…" Dreadwing challenged.

Starscream was sick and tired of the overgrown seekers incompetence. "I have things under control."

The green twin, Skyquake, cut in, "Sure you do. And what about your spy? Haven't heard from him in a while. You sure you weren't double crossed?"

"He is in a bind. He will come when he can." Starscream defended. "Apparently he has had to time his checkups around a new agenda. Ironhide did something to his schedule that has restricted his freedom."

"Just make sure we don't lose the next battle. Ironhide's on a winning streak and he just _loves _rubbing it in…"

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Earth – Flagstaff Arizona<strong>_

It had been a couple days since prom, and all Charlotte did was talk on the phone with Derek. Her parents didn't complain; they thought it was good for her to actually talk to other human beings. Of course they didn't tell Optimus or Leo that, but Charlotte had always spent every free second she had with the bots. Derek was a nice change. Though at the moment, he wasn't the one needed, Optimus was. His holoform was inside playing the piano he just tuned.

"Hey Optimus, you think you could come out here and give me a hand?" Robert asked from the front yard. The harmonious music stopped, and soon Optimus's tall holoform appeared in the doorway. He walked down to the driveway, where a sweaty and filthy Robert was standing next to his police cruiser. The vehicle's hood was propped up as Optimus approached.

"How may I be of service?" the young adult looking holoform asked in a robot voice.

Robert slapped him with the dirty towel that was around his neck. "Stop acting like a machine." Optimus chuckled as he fixed his stray piece of hair that was slapped in a weird position. "But check it out," Robert guided him to the black and white car, "the stupid thing isn't working and I can't figure out what's wrong with it. And I figured that, hey, you're a car! Maybe you can figure it out? Think you can help me?"

Optimus looked at Robert with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize that I am an Alien, right?" The sass in is voice was evident. "I don't really know anything about cars. But give me a sec." Optimus quickly downloaded all the information he could about earth's vehicles. It took no longer then ten seconds. "Alright then, step aside human, I got this." He gently pushed Robert out of the way, then he took off his red and blue jacket and tied it around his waist. He dug into the car's engine area and only popped out when he needed a tool.

"I guess I'll just leave you to it." Robert went back inside for a break. He didn't even make it to the couch before he got attacked by Charlotte.

"Spinning heel kick!" her dad ducked just in time. The two duked it out for a few minutes before Robert got tired and just sat on her. "Get off fatty!"

"No, I'm tired…" he eventually got off her and headed for the kitchen. Calling over his shoulder, "You did better that time, keep training hard."

"I will!" Charlotte called back. "Now where is Optimus?" She heard sounds coming from the front so she headed that way. She saw the autobot leader's holoform bent down in her father's patrol car. She went over and sat on a nearby foot stool. She sat quietly for a moment, watching him work, but then spoke up. "So…a fire truck fixing a police car, what are the odds?" she heard a grunt from inside the engine. "What? I thought it was funny." She shrugged. "So hey, there's this really cool movie coming out tomorrow and I really want to see it. None of my friends can make it, so do you want to come?" Optimus finally pulled his head out of the engine. He was covered in engine residue. Before he could decline, Charlotte started begging. "Pweeeaasssee," he had yet to find a way to say 'no' to that puppy dog face she had.

"Fine…" he sighed.

"Yes!" she jumped up, standing on the foot stool and gave Optimus a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best!" Charlotte then headed back for the house, leaving a very confused Prime.

"What just happened?" Optimus asked himself as he rubbed his cheek, butterflies in his stomach.

Leo came around the corner in his holoform. "I don't know, Bro. She sending you mixed signals."

Optimus got back to work with a smile on his face. He was almost done when he heard the sound of a powerful engine. He looked up from his work to see a 1967 Black Chevrolet Impala pull into the other side of the driveway. The driver parked and opened its squeaky door. Optimus was surprised to see who the driver was, "Derek?"

The brunette was just as surprised to see him, "Orion? Man, I knew you were good friends with Charlotte, but I didn't think you'd be at her house. Whatcha doing here?" Then he saw Leo for the first time. "Oh, hello."

Leo responded with a loud, "Well Hi!"

The holoform of Optimus rolled his golden eyes. "That's my little brother, Leonardo-"

"Like the Ninja Turtle?!" Derek couldn't help but cut it.

"Heck yeah dude!" Leo answered for himself. "My folks thought it would be funny cuz of the blue hair. What they should have done was name me Mikey!"

"That would have been awesome!"

The Prime cleared his throat to silence Leo and get Derek's attention. "Anyways, we are here because Mr. Ire was having car troubles. I'm a mechanic, like my father, and offered to take a look at it for no charge." Optimus improvised. "What about you?"

Derek could see the family resemblance. "I was invited to have lunch." He put his car keys in one of the pockets of his dark brown leather jacket. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he approached the police cruiser. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"It's alright, you head inside. They're probably waiting." Optimus faked a sincere smile.

Derek may or may not have seen through the smile, but he still had to ask a question that had been nagging at him since he first saw Orion. "I'll go inside in a sec, maybe Leo can you tell them I'm here?"

"Sure thing," Leo zipped inside.

Now that they were alone, Derek turned to Orion, "Can I ask you something? And be honest."

Optimus's golden eyes narrowed, unsure where the conversation was going. "Sure…"

He was a little nervous, but Derek asked his question anyways. "Are you sure there is nothing going on between you and Charlotte?"

For the briefest of a second, Orion's face sadden, but he quickly replaced it with a neutral one. "She said we are just friends…and her word is law."

"Wow, you treat her like a queen." The shorter teen was clearly impressed.

Optimus sharply turned and looked Derek dead in the eye, completely serious. "Just as she ought to be treated." Derek leaned back from the imposing figure of Orion. The guy wasn't messing around. He was saved from answering when he heard Charlotte call his name.

"Derek? You're here?" Charlotte turned the corner with a smile on her face. "Hey!" She jumped into his arms for a hug.

He caught her mid-air and did a little spin. "Charlotte! It's good to see ya. It's way better than just talking on the phone. Is lunch ready?" Derek asked as he put her back on the ground.

"Yes it is, come on in. My parents haven't seen you since you had Spider-man underwear." Charlotte giggled.

Derek rolled his eyes, but then he saw the curious look from Orion. "I forgot my belt one day and when I was running to home plate in T-ball, my pants kinda fell off…everyone saw my bright red Spidey undies, she'll never let me forget it." He and Charlotte laughed at the memory. Derek noticed that Orion wasn't laughing, so he changed the subject. "Anyways, are you coming inside to eat too?"

Optimus tightened the last loose part of the car harshly, finishing up the repairs. "No, I'm done. Besides, Leo and I ate before we got here."

"We did?" The light blue haired boy asked from behind Charlotte. Orion cleared his throat, though it sounded more like a growl. "I mean, we did! Of course…hehehe," he nervously laughed. "I'll just wait in the car." He headed for the flamed Peterbilt that was parked off to the side.

"Nice ride," Derek observed.

Orion mumbled, "Thanks," as he walked by.

Charlotte was a little confused at the way Optimus and Leo were acting, but she couldn't outright just ask them since Derek was right there. "Are you sure you have to go?"

Her tone hinted that she had more to say, but Optimus just waved it off. "Yeah, I've got a bunch of stuff to do anyways. I'll see you later." He waved, then got in his truck and left.

Derek and Charlotte went inside and had lunch. Anna and Robert forgot just how much they liked Derek. To them, he grew up to be a nice kid. While they ate, Derek invited Charlotte to go paint-balling with him and some friends after lunch. She hadn't ever gone paint-balling before, and begged her parents to let her go. They trusted her in Derek's hands and let her go with him. She ran upstairs to hurry up and get ready. She opened the door to her room to find an unexpected surprise. Optimus's holoform was trying to pry Leo, robot form, from the ceiling fan without breaking it.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, her head tilted in question.

"Aaahhhh…" the two mechs said in unison.

"Doesn't matter. Leo, blast the music! Optimus, help me with my outfit." Charlotte demanded as she headed for her closest.

"Okie dokie, Boss," Leo saluted and then hoped off the fan. He started searching for a good song to play that had a nice beat.

Optimus stood next to Charlotte; she started throwing clothes on him in a hurry to find a proper outfit. "Mind telling me where you're going?" he requested as he shook her pink Superman shirt off his head.

"Derek invited me to go paint-balling with him, and I don't know what to wear!" She practically emptied her closet of clothes. "Come on, I know I have something."

"Derek?" the hurt in his voice went unnoticed by Charlotte, but not Leo. He finally put on a song.

_Cause the world might do me in_

_It's all right cause I'm with friends_

_Cause I'm giving up again_

_It doesn't matter_

"Yep, Derek, now please help me." Charlotte asked excitedly.

In defeat, Optimus sighed, "As you wish…"

_And I'm feeling like a ghost_

_And it's what I hate the most_

_Cause I'm giving up again_

_And this time (this time, this time)_

_This time I might just disappear_

_This time I might just dis..._

_This time I might just disappear_

_This time I might just dis..._

Optimus helped her pick the perfect outfit for paintballing. She hadn't even been upstairs for five minutes when she came running back down. She said a quick goodbye to her folks and went outside to go ride in Derek's cool car, ignoring the music that was still playing from her room.

_Try and hear me then I'm done_

_Cause I might just say this once_

_Seen this played out in my dream_

_It doesn't matter_

Derek pulled out of the driveway and sped off down the road, not knowing that a pair of golden optics followed him until he was out of sight.

_Time for givin' up the ghost_

_Fuck, it's you I hate the most_

_And there is no guarantee_

_It doesn't matter_

_This time I might just disappear_

_This time I might just dis..._

_This time I might just disappear_

_This time I might just dis..._

Charlotte had a blast paint-balling. Derek thought she was a natural as she dodged pellets by rolling in the dirt then bolting up and nailing several people at once. He wasn't too bad himself. But he was doing Junior ROTC, so he thought it didn't count since he had actual training. During the few hours that they were shooting, they never got a chance to really just talk between the two of them. They didn't get a chance on the ride back to Charlotte's house either because Derek had to give one of his friends a ride. So when they finally did arrive at her house, all they wanted to do was be alone. It was on the verge of getting dark, so Charlotte checked in with her parents before she went back out to Derek who was still in his car trying to get paint off his face.

"You wanna go for a walk?" Charlotte asked as she wiped the last bit of dry paint off Derek's dirty cheek.

"In the woods? At night? Girl, you trying to be the main character of a horror movie?" Derek sassily snapped his fingers.

"Haha, no, just come on. I do this all the time." She pulled the other teen out of the car. They started their walk, but couldn't see anything. Charlotte tripped several times, each time Derek caught her. Soon their eyes adjusted and there was no more stumbling. While they were talking, they went pretty deep into the forest. Their kind words to each other shortly turned to playful flirting. Charlotte was giggling, and she was thankful that it was dark out so Derek couldn't see her blushing. She failed to notice, though, just how close they were to Optimus's base.

Leo was a little surprised to overhear giggling in the forest. "Hey Big Bot, did you hear that?" He jumped from the tree he was relaxing in onto a passing by Optimus. He landed on the bigger bot's head, and decided to dangle upside-down in front of Optimus's face. "Yo, are you even listening to me?"

Optimus blew air up from his mouth, forcing Leo to fly upward and land on his head. "Not now, Leo. I'm not in the mood."

"Just listen!" Leo tugged on Optimus's sensitive antenna in the direction of the laughter.

"OW! Leo!"

"SSHHH!" They both went silent as they heard Charlotte laugh again, followed by Derek's. Leo whispered, "See, I told ya…" Optimus gently shook his head to get the iPod to loosen his grip. Leo did and urged Optimus to scoot closer so they could hear the humans better.

"We are _not_ getting any closer. I'm not eavesdropping on Charlotte, that's a total invasion of privacy." Even though Optimus didn't want to get closer, he didn't want to go farther away either. The humans couldn't hear the bots since they were in the camouflaged shield, but the bots could hear them.

Charlotte's laugh subsided, but she still had a smile on her face. When they were kids, she only saw Derek as a friend. But now, she had different feelings for him. It was getting cold out and Charlotte started to rub her arms to try and keep them warm. Derek noticed, took off his leather jacket, and put it around her. He left his arms around her, though, seeing how she would react. Charlotte leaned into him, feeling his warmth.

"Better?" he softly spoke into her ear.

Charlotte rested her head on him, "yes."

Inside the camouflaged shield, Optimus and Leo saw the whole thing. They didn't mean to be spying, but the two humans wondered into their area and that wasn't their fault. It was awkward for the two bots watching the humans in silence, but of course Leo decided to put a little spin on things.

Leo smiled playfully, "I can see what's happening."

Optimus was confused by this statement, "what?"

The little bot continued, "And they don't have a clue…"

"Who?" Optimus questioned.

Leo shrugged and looked at Optimus, "They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line, our trios down to two."

"Oh…" It took Optimus a moment to realize what Leo just did there. "Leo!"

But the iPod continued, "The sweet caress of twilight-"

"Stop it!"

"There's magic everywhere-"

"I mean it!"

"And with all this romantic atmosphere-"

"Oh I give up," Optimus rolled his optics.

"Disaster's in the air!" Leo was dramatically on his knees. But he continued to play the rest of the song.

_Can you feel the love tonight?_

_The peace the evening brings_

_The world, for once, in perfect harmony_

_With all its living things_

Derek held Charlotte, the two enjoying each other's company. They would have stayed like that longer, but they both heard a 'snap' from somewhere in the forest. Derek really didn't want the evening to turn into a horror movie, so he and Charlotte left the woods and headed for his car. He had to get home, but he still hadn't had enough of being around Charlotte.

"When will I see you again?" He asked as he opened the squeaky door to his black car to get in.

Charlotte pulled the jacket that was around her tighter. Then she thought of something. "You want to go to the movies tomorrow? There's this really good movie coming out and I really want to see it." She had a playful look in her eyes. "And for the record, if you ever want to see your precious jacket again, you have to take me to the movie theaters."

The other brunette smirked, "It's a date then. I'll see you tomorrow." He got in his car, revved the engine a little bit since Charlotte liked it when he did that, then left.

She went back inside with butterflies in her stomach. Her dad noticed the jacket that was too big for her. "So I take it you and Derek are a thing now?" Robert asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blood shot straight to her face, making Charlotte a bright red. "Dad!"

He laughed as he roughly flicked his newspaper to straighten it. "Hey it's okay, I like Derek. I just want to see how Optimus takes the news. That'll be interesting…" he went back to reading his paper.

Charlotte didn't understand what her dad meant, but now that she thought about it, she was going to have to tell Optimus that she did have someone to go to the movies with her. She'd cancel with him in the morning, right now she needed to take a shower for she was covered in dirt and paint. If she got Derek to like her while she looked like crap, she was going to make him fall heads over heels for her when she was all decked out in makeup and had her hair done.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Cybertron – Praxus <strong>_

Prowl sleepily awoke. It took him a moment to realize that he was still in his office and not in his personal quarters. He thought it was odd how he was on a pillow. He tried sitting up, but he felt resistance. He looked down and saw that he was tucked into his desk by a soft blanket. "What?" He got out of the blanket and folded it. He put the folded up blanket and pillow on a nearby chair, then looked around the room, an empty room. "Moonshadow?" the youngling was nowhere to be seen. Prowl went back to his desk to find a note.

-You fell into recharge. Would have woke you, but you haven't slept in days. I tucked you in so you would be more comfortable and got you a pillow. Com me if you need me, Moonshadow. PS Jazz says you look adorable when you sleep-

"MOONSHADOW!"

Parts of the base shook at the tactician's outburst. Bots thought Ironhide looked scary when he was mad, but compared to Prowl, Ironhide looked like a giant iron bunny. As the officer made his way through the base, autobots cleared a path. The wreckers even stopped blowing stuff up as Prowl walked by. The black and white ninja bot found Moonshadow in the training room. He and Bumblebee were sparring against Hot Shot and Sideswipe. Prowl thought the younger bots would be overpowered by the older, more experienced soldiers, but he was wrong. They were actually winning. They were a great team and they had similar fighting techniques, as if they had the same teacher. Prowl made a note of that in case he would need it in the future.

The fight was coming to an end. Bumblebee had already defeated Hot Shot and Moonshadow was finishing up Sideswipe. The darker mech tripped the silver and red mech and used Sideswipe's blades against him. Before Moonshadow decapitated the lone twin, he stopped, ending the sparring match.

"We win." the victor smirked.

"Whatever, get off me." Sideswipe shoved the black and dark blue mech off of him, but accepted the hand that was offered to help him up. "We were going easy on you two, as to boost your confidence."

Bumblebee laughed, though it sounded more like a series of beeps. Moonshadow spoke for his crippled friend. "You losers said that the last three times. Just admit it, you got beat by a bunch of younglings." He joined Bumblebee.

Hot Shot was rubbing his sore head. "Um, Sides, I think they got enough confidence."

Prowl decided to make his presence known. "Maybe a little too much." Bumblebee and Moonshadow stopped laughing. The police officer approached the youngest mech in the autobot army. "You had direct orders to NEVER leave my side. You think this is a game?"

"But," the young mech tried to defend himself, but Prowl was persistent.

"No! You disobeyed orders-"

"Stupid orders!"

"What?" Prowl wasn't used to being interrupted. He also wasn't use to Moonshadow talking back, he was generally a good kid who respected his superiors.

"The orders I was given don't make sense. Yeah I get how you need help, you have a crazy work load. But what I don't get is why I need to always be around you, as if I was a prisoner or something. I'm not allowed anywhere without you accompanying me, and no offense sir, but you're kinda a drag." Moonshadow slapped a hand over his mouth with wide optics._ I did not just disrespect my superior officer! I am so dead…_Moonshadow looked down, disappointed in himself. But after a few seconds of awkward silence, he looked back up, ready to take his punishment.

Every bot was looking at him with their mouths hanging open, even Prowl. The other autobots never heard anyone talk like that to Prowl. As for Prowl, he wasn't so sure if Moonshadow was the traitor anymore. During the time he spent with the youngling, Moonshadow had proved to be innocent. For a stubborn and hardheaded bot, he always respected his elders and liked to lend a helping hand. He made subtle jokes that were funny, even if he was a smart aft half the time. He was just a young autobot who liked to act like a bad boy. The only things that were off about him was his far advanced fighting skills and mysterious past. The only reason why the past was shadowy was because Prowl never bothered to ask. He only asked questions about present matters. _Stop it, Prowl. You're starting to think like Ironhide and you're falling for his youngling tricks. _Prowl closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "Just get back to my office," he said as he pointed towards the door. Moonshadow obeyed.

Before Prowl could follow him out, Hot Shot spoke. "Why is he being watched so closely anyways?"

Sideswipe also had a question, "Is there something that you're not telling us?"

Prowl sighed tiredly, "I am not at liberty to say. If you have questions, ask Ironhide." Then he left, leaving a confused Hot Shot, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee. The bots that could speak couldn't help but spread word that the higher-ups were hiding something. Back in Prowl's office, Moonshadow sat in one of the empty chairs, wondering what his next move was going to be. Prowl walked in and sat at his desk. They stared at each other, waiting to see who would talk first. The higher ranking officer did, "Moonshadow, how long were you gone?"

"You slept for six hours, I stayed for an hour then I left. I wondered around outside the base for a while, then went to the rec room to refuel. I ran into Bumblebee and we hung out for a few hours. We made our way to the training room and started sparring. The last hour we were joined by Hot Shot and Sideswipe." Moonshadow answered coolly.

His answer was very vague, making Prowl distrust him a little more. He narrowed his icy blue optics at the younger bot. "What were you doing outside the base?" Prowl was looking for any tell-tale signs that he was lying.

But Moonshadow's silver optics never even hinted anything suspicious. "Nothing really, just drove over the speed limit. I know that seems offensive to you, but what can I say? Anyways, I practiced some driving maneuvers, but I manly just drove around enjoying the freedom away from your office." He sounded like he spoke truthfully.

The police officer had another question. "Was this the first time you snuck out?" Moonshadow didn't answer right away. "Answer me, Soldier!"

The youngling jumped. "No…I've done it several times. I only leave when you fall asleep from exhaustion. I get bored…"

Prowl's cold optics never left Moonshadow. _Great, so he has had the chance to contact his decepticon allies. Moonshadow is going to be harder to break then I originally thought._

* * *

><p><strong>Whatcha gonna, whatcha gonna, whatcha gonna do when Prowl's out to get you...lol<strong>

**Song #1 is Ghost by Mystery Skulls (You should defiantly check out the animation video, it is da BOOM)**

**Song #2 is from the Lion King, Can you Feel the Love Tonight. i own no such music. **


	17. Chapter 17: Strange Things

There are lots of songs in this chapter, so heads up. I couldn't help but put them in, especially with a character like Leo XP And the 1st song idea/name of the chapter came from **Wolf Prime :)**

Just from experience, I've noticed that reading the chapter with the songs playing really gets the reader into the mood *hint hint*

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 17: Strange Things<strong>

Charlotte and Derek were officially dating. Everyone thought they were a cute couple, well for the most part anyways. Optimus was one of the few not fine with it, but he acted like he was for the sake of Charlotte's happiness. Leo knew his creator's true feelings, but he was asked to not talk about it with anyone. He surprisingly obeyed, though he couldn't help himself from hinting things here and there. The little iPod would always play "Strange Things" by Randy Newman just to mess with Optimus.

_I was on top of the world  
>it was right in my pocket<br>I was living the life  
>things were just the way they should be<br>When from out of the sky like a bomb comes some little punk in a rocket  
>now all of a sudden some strange things are happening to me<em>

_I had friends,_  
><em>I had lots of friends<em>  
><em>Now all my friends are gone<em>  
><em>And I'm doing the best I can to carry on<em>

_I had power (power)_  
><em>I was respected (respect)<em>  
><em>But not anymore<em>  
><em>And I've lost the love to the one whom I adored<em>

Optimus would ask Leo to stop, but he never did.

_Let me tell you about the strange things are happening to me_  
><em>Strange things<em>  
><em>Strange things are happening to me...<em>  
><em>Ain't no doubt about it<em>

Derek started picking Charlotte up from school a lot too, so Optimus only got to drive her to school. Those car rides were the only times he and Leo really spent time with her, and Optimus tried his best to make those car rides her favorite part of the day. But that was hard since Charlotte and Derek were best friends who liked to do everything together.

When school ended for the summer, he saw Charlotte less and less. When she wasn't with her boyfriend, she was with her girlfriends or her family. The bots came by the house less often as well, for they did not want to intrude on the humans' lives. Optimus hid his feelings with a neutral face and preferred to stay quiet. Leo was fine in the beginning, but after a few months he couldn't take it anymore.

"I miss Charlotte!" Leo cried.

Optimus looked up from his work. He had been drawing up plans to sneak into the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California. With Charlotte not being around and not being a constant distraction, he had started working on other ways to reach his autobots. He told himself that he was doing it so he could return to his people, but he mainly seemed to be working so much just to keep his mind busy. The Prime saw that the little transformer was sitting all curled up on the stone table, facing the direction of Charlotte's house. Optimus went to Leo and scooped the youngling up and held him. As Prime, it was his duty to see to his people and serve them to the best of his ability. Leo was one of his own, so he comforted him in his time of need and told him what needed to be heard. "I miss her to. I miss her flaws, mistakes, smiles, giggles, jokes, and sarcasm. Everything…but maybe it is good that we separate."

Leo's grip tightened on the part of Optimus that he was holding, "why?"

The Prime let out a sigh, "We're not from this world. When my autobots come, which they will, we will leave with them and go back to Cybertron."

"What!?" Leo let go of Optimus and even tried to get away from him. He didn't get far, but before Optimus could speak, Leo continued. "I'm not even from Cybertron! Earth is my home!" Optimus hadn't thought about that, and in his hesitation, Leo jumped out of his reach. The iPod was lost in the trees before Optimus could say anything else.

The bots went several hours without speaking, but they were brought together unexpectedly. Charlotte randomly showed up at their base. When she first got there, no bot was in sight. "Guys?" After she spoke, both of the mechs' heads popped around trees.

"Charlotte?" Optimus and Leo questioned in unison.

When the smaller of the two saw that she was really there, he immediately jumped down and attacked her face and neck with little transformer hugs. His advances tickled her, making her laugh. Optimus smiled down at the sight, it was just like old times.

Eventually Leo stopped, "So whatcha doing here?" he asked from his rightful place on her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, duh," Charlotte forgot, she was having too much of a good time to remember. But it came back to her. "Derek's at the house and he can't get his car to start. So I told him I'd give you a call and have you take a look at it. Is that okay?"

Both the bots slightly flinched at the sound of Derek's name, but they acted as if it was nothing. Optimus answered, "Sure thing, we'll be right over."

"Thanks, I gotta go. He is probably wondering why I am taking so long with the 'phone call' that I am making to you. See ya in a bit." She headed off.

When she was out of sight, Leo turned to Optimus, "I'm sorry about earlier. You're right, and I shouldn't have blown up in your face like that…"

Optimus patted his head, "You're young, make mistakes while you still can. And I shouldn't have brought that up to you yet. But it is still something we need to discuss." Leo agreed.

Orion and his little brother pulled into Charlotte's front yard ten minutes later. Derek came out and shook hands with Orion, "Thanks for coming, I hope it wasn't out of your way."

"Don't worry about it," Orion waved it off. "Now, let's see what's wrong with your car." They headed towards the Impala, Leo following.

"Isn't it convenient that your car broke down at your girlfriend's house?" The lighter blue haired boy asked.

Derek laughed, "I was lucky, at least I wasn't bored." Leo and Optimus had to hide their annoyed looks.

The car took Orion a few minutes to find the problem, then another to fix it. He was done under twelve minutes and before he could send Derek on his merry way, Charlotte invited them all inside. They talked a little about what they wanted in their future. Derek made the mistake of asking Leo and of course he replied with a song. He jumped on the couch and started rocking out.

_When I grow up, I wanna be famous,_

_I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies._

_When I grow up, I wanna see the world,_

_Drive nice cars, I wanna have groupies._

_When I grow up, be on TV,_

_People know me, be on magazines._

_When I grow up, fresh and clean,_

_Number one boy when I step out on the scene._

Orion pulled Leo down, but the music kept on coming.

_Be careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it,_

_You just might get it, you just might get it._

_Be careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it,_

_You just might get it, you just might get it (get it)._

Orion tried a different method and started wrestling with Leo, stopping the music. While the 'brothers' were wrestling, Charlotte had to explain to Derek that Leo had a remote to the stereo system, hence the music. He didn't think it at all strange and bought the lie.

After Leo gave up and cried 'uncle', he had an idea. "Who's the better fighter? Orion or Derek? Fight fight fight!" Leo pulled the two teens from their seats and moved the furniture around for the match.

"Nah Leo, I think I'm good." Derek backed down. He really didn't want to fight Orion. Charlotte had other ideas.

"Come on Derek! Don't be a wimp, you can take him." She saw the skeptical look Orion was giving her. "What? I wanna see who would win." Like she didn't already know.

The one with the ponytail shrugged, "I'm game. Come on Derek, let's see what you got." _I am so gonna enjoy this, _Optimus thought. He took off his red and blue jacket to reveal his ever so slightly skin tight black shirt. He got Charlotte to look him up and down before he widened his stance and put his arms up.

The brunette boy couldn't back down now, not with everyone wanting him to fight. He had no idea that he was versing a 9 million year old alien supreme commander of a species. Even with his little training of hand-to-hand combat and school wrestling experience, he was no match for Orion. The guy seemed like he had been fighting his whole life; if he only knew. After a while, Optimus let up a little bit so Derek would at least have a little bit of pride left. The fight looked intense so when Robert walked in from a long day at work, he instantly thought the boys were actually fighting.

He ran in and pulled them apart, "Hey! Calm down you two!" The boys didn't struggle in his grip. "What are you thinking? I thought better of you Opti- I mean Orion." He finally let them both go.

"Sir, we were just having some recreational fun." Orion defended with an innocent smile.

Derek backed him up. "Yeah, we were just playing."

The sheriff crossed his arms, pondering about the turn of events. "Oh…" he honestly thought the boys were fighting over Charlotte, but he decided not to tell them that. "In that case, just put the furniture back to where you found it." Then he made his way to the kitchen.

It was silent until Leo spoke, "well that was awkward…" After that, Derek decided to leave. Before he went, he invited Charlotte to go to the fair with him. Leo jumped up excitedly with an idea. "Hey, what day do you plan on going Derek?" Derek responded saying that he was going on the upcoming Saturday. "What! No way, that's the same day Orion and I were going." Leo winked at Orion, mentally telling him to go along with it. "We should totally like meet up and hang out for a while. Not the whole time, of course, we wouldn't want to intrude."

Derek didn't mind. "Sure thing. Charlotte can just text you and we'll find each other then." Before he left, he gave Charlotte a quick kiss, much to Optimus's annoyance.

The bots didn't expect to see Charlotte before Saturday, so they were surprised to see her when she showed up at the base a couple of nights later. It was late one windy night and they were both up still working on a tiny communications device. Optimus would tell Leo how to put it together, and the little iPod could easily fulfill the task with his small hands. At first, they didn't do anything; but when they saw tears falling down her face, they both sprinted to her.

"Charlotte, what's wrong?" Optimus asked as he gently scooped her off the cold ground and brought her to his warm chest, blocking the wind. He and Leo totally forgot about their little project.

She wiped her eyes, trying to calm down. "Derek," she sniffed.

Leo, who was on Optimus's shoulder, wasn't sure how to comfort her. Instead, he did the best thing he knew how to do; he played a song and let Optimus do all the comforting. Drums and a guitar were heard as Optimus whispered nice things to Charlotte, ignoring his strong urge to step on Derek.

_What'd he do this time?  
>Did he break your heart?<br>I can tell you been crying... and baby here you are.  
>And I always know any time you show up at my door past 11 o'clock that he <em>_**really**__ must've pissed you off._

_Take it out on me._  
><em>And put your lips on mine.<em>  
><em>Let me take his wrong and make it right this time.<em>  
><em>Yeah, you can just come over, you ain't gotta call.<em>  
><em>You always got a shoulder anytime it all goes bad, when you're 'bout to break, when you're mad as hell, you can always take it out on me.<em>  
><em>You can take it out on me baby.<em>  
><em>If you ever wanna leave, maybe.<em>  
><em>In the middle of the night, that's alright...<em>  
><em>You can take, take...<em>

Charlotte rested into the living metal that surrounded her. When she and Derek got into the fight, she didn't know who else to go to. So she decided to go to her favorite place in the world, Optimus's embrace. She knew she could go to her bots; they always made her feel better. She was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of the Prime's voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She heard the concern in his metallic voice. She sometimes forgot he was an alien. He always seemed to act so much like a human, and he was just a normal part of her day. "No, not right now. I just want to be with you guys."

Optimus wasn't going to argue with that. He walked over to the moonlit stone table and sat on one of the chairs next to it. It was a beautiful starry night and Optimus knew that in any minute, the fireflies would light up the place, making it look like a dream. Leo was thinking along the same lines as Optimus and put on another song that had an acoustic guitar playing. The wind had died down so Optimus activated his holoform and guided Charlotte out of his robot hands and onto the stone table. He pulled her close to him. She didn't question his actions as she looked into his glowing gold eyes. When he started slowly swaying to the music, she followed suit.

_When I look into your eyes  
>It's like watching the night sky<br>Or a beautiful sunrise  
>Well, there's so much they hold<em>

Charlotte held Optimus tighter, he was her support right now.

_And just like them old stars  
>I see that you've come so far<br>To be right where you are  
>How old is your soul?<em>

Optimus picked up the pace, and their little swaying dance turned into a mini Viennese waltz.

_Well, I won't give up on us  
>Even if the skies get rough<br>I'm giving you all my love  
>I'm still looking up<em>

_And when you're needing your space_  
><em>To do some navigating<em>  
><em>I'll be here patiently waiting<em>  
><em>To see what you find<em>

He picked her off her feet and swung her around, causing her to giggle and forget about all her worries.

_'Cause even the stars they burn  
>Some even fall to the earth<br>We've got a lot to learn  
>God knows we're worth it<br>No, I won't give up_

Charlotte buried her face into his warm, muscled body.

_I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily  
>I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make<br>Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use  
>The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake<br>And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend  
>For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn<br>We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in  
>I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am<em>

They danced across the stone table as fireflies lit up the surrounding forest.

_I won't give up on us  
>Even if the skies get rough<br>I'm giving you all my love  
>I'm still looking up, still looking up.<em>

Optimus stopped fighting with his emotions, and decided to wait for her because he honestly didn't want anyone else.

_Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)  
>God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)<br>We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)  
>God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)<em>

_I won't give up on us_  
><em>Even if the skies get rough<em>  
><em>I'm giving you all my love<em>  
><em>I'm still looking up<em>

They stopped when the music stopped, gazing at each other. Charlotte let a little smirk form on her face. She let go of Orion and went to Optimus's robot form. The holoform had a confused expression. She giggled as she hopped into giant blue hands. "No offense big guy, but I kinda like your true form more than your fake one." Orion's eyebrow shot up in question. "Don't get me wrong, your holoform is great eye candy, but it's not the same as the bot I found in a crater."

Smiling, Optimus deactivated his holoform and took Charlotte up in his real hands. "Come on, little one." He took them to the clearing where he opened up to her about his dark past. He laid down with one hand behind his head, and the other on his chest with Charlotte underneath it. His hand protected her and kept her warm. They all were gazing up at the stars in silence. Optimus knew it was late and Charlotte needed rest, but he decided that she was just going to have to spend the night with them. He had a request. "Leo, could you play that one song that I have come to like?"

Leo was chilling on the yellow middle part of Optimus's helmet. He sat up asking, "The Phil Collins one?"

"Yes." Charlotte stayed quiet, she knew some songs by that artist, but she was curious as to which song that Optimus would be interested in. The song started playing and she instantly knew which one it was; it was one of her favorites.

_Come stop your crying  
>It will be alright<br>Just take my hand  
>Hold it tight<em>

_I will protect you_  
><em>From all around you<em>  
><em>I will be here<em>  
><em>Don't you cry<em>

Optimus and Charlotte both had smiles one their faces.

_For one so small,  
>You seem so strong<br>My arms will hold you,  
>Keep you safe and warm<br>This bond between us  
>Can't be broken<br>I will be here  
>Don't you cry<em>

'_Cause you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>From this day on<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_You'll be in my heart_  
><em>No matter what they say<em>  
><em>You'll be here in my heart, always<em>

Charlotte was starting to doze off, but the song kept playing. If she only knew the way her Prime felt…

_Why can't they understand the way we feel?_  
><em>They just don't trust what they can't explain<em>  
><em>I know we're different but deep inside us<em>  
><em>We're not that different at all<em>

_And you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>From this day on<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_Don't listen to them_  
><em>'Cause what do they know (what do they know)?<em>  
><em>We need each other<em>  
><em>To have, to hold.<em>  
><em>They'll see in time<em>  
><em>I know<em>

_When destiny calls you_  
><em>You must be strong (you gotta be strong)<em>  
><em>I may not be with you<em>  
><em>But you've got to hold on<em>  
><em>They'll see in time<em>  
><em>I know<em>  
><em>We'll show them together<em>

_'Cause you'll be in my heart_  
><em>Yes, you'll be in my heart<em>  
><em>I'll be there from this day on,<em>  
><em>Now and forever more<em>

_Oh, you'll be in my heart (you'll be here in my heart)_  
><em>No matter what they say (I'll be with you)<em>  
><em>You'll be here in my heart (I'll be there), always<em>  
><em>Always<em>  
><em>I'll be with you<em>  
><em>I'll be there for you always<em>  
><em>Always and always<em>  
><em>Just look over your shoulder<em>  
><em>Just look over your shoulder<em>  
><em>Just look over your shoulder<em>  
><em>I'll be there <em>_always._

Leo and Charlotte were both asleep by the end. Optimus was alone with his thoughts of the little human girl he had grown so fond of. He couldn't deny that he had feelings for her, but how could he not? She knew about the mixed up parts of his soul, she understood the darkest and dustiest corners of his mind, and they had each other to lean on. He'd do his best to always be there for his little Charlotte; the girl who stole his spark.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Cybertron – Autobot Rec Room<strong>_

Prowl needed Moonshadow to relax around him and not feel like he was under house arrest, otherwise the youngling would never open up. He decided to give the kid a break from his office and let him roam around wherever he pleased, so long as Prowl went with him; plus, the officer could use the break. Moonshadow wanted to be in the rec room simply since there were bots everywhere. Prowl watched him from a distance to see how he would act. The dark mech liked to watch and observe everything, a lot like how Optimus did before he went missing. The leader of the Autobots would never have a drink with any of his warriors, but he had always liked just watching his troops interact with each other. Now that Prowl thought about it, Moonshadow had never met the Prime. Optimus was already missing when they found him. Prowl would have wondered more about it longer, but Moonshadow was doing something interesting. Yes, he was watching the bots in the room, but his optics mainly stayed on one in particular. Ironhide.

The current leader was in a corner with Jazz, Jetfire, and Ratchet. They were talking about the upcoming battle that they would most likely have with the decepticons over an energon deposit. Prowl knew he should be over there helping out, but he was too busy keeping an optic on Moonshadow. The youngest bot's optics never left Ironhide. Prowl was having a hard time reading his face expressions.

The meeting ended and Ironhide was bent over the table making last minute adjustments when some bot grabbed his behind. From all the way across the room, Moonshadow heard Ironhide's startled yelp. The corners of his mouth turned up as he overheard Chromia's giggle. He didn't hear what she said after she grabbed her mate's aft, but judging by Ironhide's face, he wasn't impressed. He watched as she squeezed Ironhide's nose as she continued on her cheerful way. His optics lingered on her for a second, but then went back to their original target.

Ironhide was still starring off after his light blue colored femme and didn't notice the young bot sneaking up behind him. Before he knew what was happening, he was hit in the back of his knee and went down. He was then tackled to the ground by a blur of yellow. "Bumblebee!" The little scout beeped, his only way of communicating with his comrades. "Yeah yeah, ya got me. You were just waiting for that meeting to end, weren't ya?" Ironhide grabbed the bot he practically raised and gave him a nuggie. "Come here you!" Bumblebee's loud beeps of protest were heard all throughout the room.

Prowl was interested in seeing Moonshadow's strange reaction to the whole event. The bot's silver optics had filled with many emotions. At first it was curiosity and laughter, then it turned to jealousy and regret. Moonshadow had looked away from the two bots wrestling. Prowl couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside the youngling's head…

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Earth <strong>_

Whatever Charlotte and Derek had fought about was forgotten. They made up the next day. Optimus and Leo were confused as to what they had fought about in the first place. Optimus was brave enough to ask Charlotte.

"What do you mean, 'what were you fighting about'?" She was doing her hair as she was getting ready to go to the fair later that day.

The holoform of Optimus was in her room. "I mean, what could have happened that made you come crying to us and then be all fine the next day?" he had a mean tone in his voice, but he couldn't help it. With Charlotte back with Derek, he couldn't squish the human. _Stop it, Prime. You know you'd never do that, _Optimus reminded himself.

"It was a simply misunderstanding. You know how that happens in relationships, don't you?" Charlotte stopped what she was doing; she temporarily forgot that Optimus Prime, according to his people, wasn't allowed to be in a relationship. She turned from the mirror to look at his holoform. He was staring down at the floor. She went over and hugged him. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." He said. Leo was quiet the entire time.

Charlotte still felt bad, and a thought came to her. "On a side note, with the High Council gone, who's gonna enforce that lame rule anyways?" She felt Optimus hug her tighter. "You're the boss; you can change the rules." She had a feeling Optimus was really debating what she was saying. "I mean, you're not really _living_ if you can't get close to anyone; you're just _surviving_."

"The lady's got a point, Boss. There's a big difference between just surviving, and actually living." Leo finally added.

"Just think about it," Charlotte patted the muscled chest, then went back to getting ready.

Optimus knew he shouldn't be selfish, but why couldn't he be happy? All his life, he focused on making others happy, so why not him? _Derek may have a head start on me, but Charlotte is the one. She opened my optics. She makes me feel like I don't need to hide behind my battle mask. She's an all-round great person with a big heart who sees the best in everyone. And I would have lived my whole life through, never knowing just how precious life can be if I never met her…we can make it work _"Charlotte."

She turned at the sound of her name, "yes?" he looked nervous, but whatever he was going to say, she never heard it. When he opened his mouth to speak, her mother walked in.

"Charlotte, honey, Derek is here." She saw that Orion and Leo were in the room. "Hey boys, aren't you guys going too?"

Leo jumped on the older woman's shoulder, acting as if something _big_ didn't just get interrupted. "Yep! But we'll go a little later so Charlotte and Derek can enjoy each other's company before I crash their party." He smiled his cheesy smile that was always on his face.

Anna laughed, "Okay then, oh and Charlotte, you should definitely make Optimus go through that hunted house at the fair and tell me how he reacts. That would be interesting."

"Of course," Charlotte smile.

Not long after that, she was down stairs and then in Derek's car. They were at the fair for about an hour and a half before they 'ran into' Orion and Leo. The group rode the rides together, Charlotte alternating between all the guys. While she was on one of the rides with Leo, Derek talked to Orion.

"So hey, did Charlotte tell you anything while we were apart?" Derek was leaning against the rail with his hands in his brown leather jacket.

"What makes you think she came to me?" Orion was watching Charlotte and Leo laughing on the ride they were on.

"Well you're her best friend, and being how she always talks about you, why wouldn't she?"

"Oh…she talks about me?" He tried avoiding the question.

"Yeah dude, like ALL the time. She acts like you're the coolest guy in the world." Orion smiled. He was able to avoid Derek's original question since Leo and Charlotte got back. They went to one of the games.

Charlotte jumped up and down when she saw a giant stuffed lion. "Guys look at that! You think you can win that?" She asked Derek, batting her hazel eyes.

"Sure thing," Derek tried his best to win the stuffed animal, but like all the carnival games, it was rigged. "Sorry Charlotte, but it's tougher than it looks."

She thought about it for a moment, then turned to Orion with a pouty face. She didn't even have to say anything. "Fine, I'll get it for you." Orion stepped up to the booth.

"Dude, the game is rigged." The shorter teen warned.

Leo chuckled as he hit Derek on the shoulder, "Watch and learn pretty boy. Orion is a Beast!"

Not even three seconds later, Orion won Charlotte the huge stuffed lion. "There you go, Charlotte." He handed her the golden animal. She squeezed it in a tight hug, loving it.

"Whatcha gonna name it?" Leo asked, trying to get around the stuffed animal's large, fluffy mane.

Charlotte thought for a quick moment, but then came up with the perfect name. "I was thinking…Tronus." There was a silent understanding between her and Orion as they looked into each other's eyes. She hadn't realized just how deep she and the autobot leader had gotten since she first stumbled upon him four years ago.

Derek nor Leo understood the strange name. Leo wasn't shy to ask, "Where'd you come up with that?"

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><p><strong>Ta da! I told ya this one would be up real soon <strong>** And as a treat for the Holidays, I'll try to have another up XD **

Song #1 = Strange Things by Randy Newman

Song #2 =When I Grow Up by Mayday Parade

Song#3 = Take it Out on Me by Florida Georgia Line

Song#4 = I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

Song#5 = You'll be in my Heart by Phil Collins

**As a fun little thing, why don't y'all leave a review saying your favorite part in the story so far ;) **


	18. Chapter 18: Moonshadow Revealed

**Hey guys! So I felt that I was overloading the things going on at Earth, so here is a strictly Cybertron chapter **** this is a TRANSFORMERS story after all :P**

**_Italics_ are pretty much thoughts that are going through the character's head, or its an emphasized word**

**[these things] are conversations between bonded Cybertronians **

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><p><span><strong>Moonshadow Revealed<strong>

'_Well, this isn't how I saw my day going…'_ Ironhide thought before he was stabbed in the pectoral part of his chest with an energon blade. The con who struck him waited for Ironhide's cry of pain, but when all he got was a startled grunt, he twisted the blade deeper and broke through to the other side of the weapons specialist's back.

"Scream for me, Ironhide." The creeper con whispered into his audio receptors. Ironhide responded by attempting to bite him. This only made his tormentor laugh, so then Ironhide spat in the decepticon's face. The seeker reared back, disgusted. "Ew! You nasty son of a-" he pulled the blade out, causing Ironhide to cough up energon, and raised the deadly weapon to strike again.

Before he could inflict more damage, his superior caught his arm. "That's enough, Skywarp! We need him alive." Starscream grinned evilly at the hanging Ironhide. "For the time being anyways. Once we get the attack coordinates out of him, then we can do whatever we want with him." The black mech glared back at Starscream from where he was suspended in the air, electrical chains keeping him in place. "Now, Ironhide, tell us ALL of your attack coordinates."

"Forget it decepti-creep!" Ironhide growled. He received a slash across his abdominal, making some of his insides spill out. Before he could recover, he was then punched in the face. He now had a broken nose and optic.

"Wrong answer!"

Before Ironhide's capture, the autobots had started a series of what seemed like random attacks on decepticon energon deposits. But in all actuality, they had strategically planned each of the assaults. With the way things were going, the decepticons would be crippled for months without the energon. The exact attack coordinates were only known by a select few autobots and the decepticons were urgently trying to decipher their enemy's plans before it was too late for them. Cons were ordered to question every autobot they came in contact with, but Starscream's main goal was to capture Ironhide. The seeker knew it would be nearly impossible if Ironhide was with Chromia for when the two fought together on the battlefield, they had yet to be defeated. The one exception would be when the couple first met and were fighting each other, but that is a story for another time. When the sparkmates temporarily separated on the battlefield, the decepticons unleashed their own little version of hell on Ironhide and captured him. They took him away from the battle and started torturing him for the information. Starscream knew he wouldn't get anything out of Ironhide, no matter what they did to him. He called Shockwave and told him to bring a cortical psychic patch to him. It would take the decepticon scientist awhile, so Starscream decided to do whatever it took to get the current autobot leader to talk. The seeker knew Ironhide could take the pain, but could his precious sparkmate?

"Open up," Starscream indicated to Ironhide's chest plates.

"Yeah right," Ironhide huffed.

The decepticon leader dramatically sighed, "Why must you always play hard to get? Oh well…" Starscream grabbed the middle of Ironhide's chest armor and violently started tearing it off, ripping his protoform apart and making the tortured mech bleed even more onto himself and onto the ground. Soon Ironhide had a large gaping hole in the middle of his chest, revealing his bare spark. "There it is…" the seeker glazed at the fragile sphere that gave every transformer their life. He reached out for the dark blue spark, but Ironhide shied away with a look of horror and disgust.

"Get away from me!" he did not like his spark being so exposed; he also felt naked without his armor.

Starscream did the 'tisk tisk' motion with his finger. "We will have none of that." Then he grabbed a taser off his torture table, put it on the medium setting, and tased Ironhide in his unprotected spark. Ironhide tried his best to not scream in agony as the electricity traveled to the most sensitive of places, but Chromia also felt the sting. When he felt her pain and her scream on the other side of their bond, a cry slipped pass his lips. "HA! That's what I want to hear!" Starscream said triumphantly. "Scream!" Ironhide's back armor was stripped off and decepticon drones were ordered to whip him.

His back was stinging, but the sharp, energon tipped whip kept coming down. He grinded his teeth to keep from crying out, since that would only encourage his captures. If he slightly moved, his entire frame would explode in pain. Everything the cons were doing to him only infuriated him, adding more fuel to his inner fire. He wasn't going to give in. During his vicious whipping, he was able to contact Chromia through their bond. [Mia? Ah! Primus…Erh, are you…Ow! Are ya alright?] He focused on sending her feelings of concern, trying to not let his feelings of distress slip through. He was a fool to think he could trick her.

[Forget about me! Where are you?] She frantically sent him reassuring feelings as she dodged laser fire. She was with Ratchet earlier when she had suddenly dropped to her knees, clutching her chest and screamed like someone was ripping her spark out. That was when Ironhide was tased the first time. Her actions nearly gave Ratchet a spark-attack. [The doc wants to put me in stasis until you are rescued. He doesn't want me randomly going down because you are getting injured so badly.]

[So the Hatchet has a spark.] Ironhide managed a weak smile before he was savagely attack again. This time, the end of the energon whip hit some very sensitive wiring and Ironhide cried out again, much to Starscream's delight.

"Hit him there again." The order was carried out and Ironhide groaned in pain. "You wanna talk now, huh?" Starscream asked sweetly. The weapon specialist's growling was his answer. The seeker did not like his response and dug his claws into Ironhide's sensitive wiring, causing him to roar. "Oh how I wish Soundwave was here to record this!" Ironhide couldn't help the tremble that went throughout his aching body. "Just give in and tell us the attack coordinates."

The exhaustion was finally setting in, and Ironhide's vision was getting blurry form the loss of energon and energy wasted trying to resist. [Hang in there, Hide!] Chromia could feel her mate's strength fading. [You're better than this, and you got me to lean on.] Ironhide held onto her internally, through their bond, for support. He drew power from her fighting spirit that was radiating from her end of the bond.

[It'll be much harder to break me then the cons think.] He paused to get his thoughts together. [I'll get myself out of here, Screamer has lazy security. But Shockwave is coming with the cortical psychic patch, it would be mighty helpful if the Cyclops never makes it to the party.]

Chromia felt his slight fear of having some other bot in his head other than her, but she also felt his excitement to terrorize his decepticon capturers. [There's the mech I know and love. Alright, we'll get Shockwave. Just don't get yourself killed trying to escape you crazy aft!]

Not long before the couple's conversation ended, Starscream's com link went off. "Shockwave to Starscream."

"What is it?" Starscream asked over the sound of another of Ironhide's roar of pain. The seeker had tased his captive in the spark again since he did not like being interrupted and whipping him wasn't doing anything other than getting the floor more dirty.

"I have been delayed. Jazz along with some other autobots have come to stop me. I will be later than planned." Shockwave listened to Ironhide's miserable sounds. "But by the sounds of it, you surprisingly got things under control…for once."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Starscream demanded, yelling into the com piece, but Shockwave had already hung up. The decepticon seeker heard laughter, and was surprised to see that the one who was laughing was Ironhide. "You're supposed to be in agonizing pain, what's your problem?"

"I just love how no one respects you." Ironhide smiled a bloody smile. "Heck, I wonder if even your little spy respects you. I highly doubt it. I bet he hasn't been of much use to you lately, cause I'm on to him." He challenged, trying to get Starscream to slip up and give him a clue as to who the traitor was.

Starscream sneered at the confident mech. "You have been causing problems for him yes, but you also make things quite easy for him as well. He was almost able to get the attack coordinates that I need so badly from your little meeting in the rec room. You were just so distracted by your pretty little femme and your adopted sparkling, Bumblebee, that you didn't notice him sneaking by." Ironhide narrowed his single operating optic in concentration, trying to remember who was in the rec room at the time. But it was no use, the majority of the autobots were in there and a lot passed by his table. Starscream received a private message, then turned to Ironhide with a smirk on his face. "Something just came in from one of my decepticons, and I think you would want to see it." The seeker than projected a video onto the wall in front of Ironhide.

It was dark, so at first, Ironhide didn't see anything. The imagery cleared and he saw Arcee hanging in a similar position as he, being circled by the decepticon femme known as Arachnid. "Arcee!" Ironhide cried out, concerned for her safety. But she couldn't hear him; he could hear her and her cries of pain, though. Ironhide had to watch as Arachnid did terrible things to Arcee, trying to get the attack coordinates out of her. Arcee didn't know the information, but Arachnid wasn't buying it. Ironhide wasn't sure if things could get any worst for the small, blue femme, but he was wrong. He and Arcee had the same horrified look on their faces as they watched decepticon drones bring in a wounded Tailgate. "Let them go!" Ironhide demanded when he saw where things were going. "Arcee doesn't know anything, and neither does Tailgate!" he started frantically trying to get out of the electric cuffs that held his hands.

"Oh, in that case let me call Arachnid and tell her that," Starscream mocked. He started playing around with his com link, and dropped it. "Oops, the things broken. Oh well," he shrugged.

"Starscream!" Ironhide growled, but he stopped struggling when he saw Arachnid go for Tailgate. He couldn't look away from the screen showing Arcee struggle, crying out Tailgate's name as Arachnid ended his life in front of her. He was just as shocked as her, though he knew Arcee was in a much worst condition than he.

Starscream turned the video off as Arachnid approached Arcee. "Such a shame…" he dramatically sighed.

Ironhide was glaring at the decepticon leader, "…you…" venom was dripping from his voice.

The seeker turned to his captive and sneered in his face. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"This!" Starscream was taken by surprise as Ironhide head-butted him with all he had. The seeker was sent flying backwards, right into the control panel. The collision caused Ironhide's chains to temporarily release him. He fell to the ground, landing perfectly despite the horrific condition his body was in. As the decepticon drones opened fire on him, he forced his body to move as if he wasn't injured. He used the tools on the torture table as his arsenal of weapons. The drones weren't doing so well against him so Skywarp attacked, but Ironhide was able to trick the seeker into the electrical chains. By the time Starscream recovered, Ironhide was long gone, leaving a mess of decepticon bodies. Ironhide was able to catch up with his autobots, specifically the ones fighting off Shockwave.

The scientist wasn't at all surprised to see that Ironhide got away. "Leave it to Starscream to lose an incapacitated prisoner. My services are no longer required." The singled eyed con left, leaving the autobots to themselves.

"Ironhide!" Jazz and the other autobots present went to the big, black mech. "You busted out! Showoff! Doing that all by your lonesome."

He ignored the praise, "Where is Arcee?"

Jazz's excitement left, "She and Tailgate were captured and interrogated. We were able to rescue 'Cee, but Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were too late to save Tailgate." There was a moment of silence, but then he continued. "Arcee is being treated by Ratchet, but he's having a hard time getting her to calm down. I heard Chromia is trying to do that as we speak."

Ironhide gave the order for all the autobots to retreat and head back to base. He didn't want the cons to try and capture anymore of his men. Word spread about what happened to Arcee and Tailgate, and everyone gathered in the main hall of the base. Arcee was being comforted by every bot there, but when Ironhide approached her, she lashed out at him, confusing everyone.

"You knew! Didn't you? You knew there was a traitor and you chose not to tell us!" Arcee screamed in Ironhide's face. "Because of you, Tailgate is dead!" the room became eerily silent.

Chromia came back up and tried to calm the frantic femme. "Arcee, listen-"

"NO! You listen, all of you listen!" Arcee shoved Chromia off and turned to all the autobots present. "There's a traitor among us, and they failed to tell us. Tailgate had to pay the price for their mistakes…" She tried to fight back tears, but some fell despite her efforts. She was normally strong, but she couldn't keep it in any longer, and Ironhide just happen to be the one she let it out on.

Despite the femme's outburst, Ironhide spoke calmly to his friend, "Arcee, where did you hear such a thing?"

Arcee practically snorted in disbelief, there was no need to be formal with Ironhide since he wasn't 'technically' Prime. "Where do you think!? Arachnid brought it up, and she was surprised how I didn't know anything. You withheld vital information, and now Tailgate is dead!" All the autobots were looking at their commanding officers with distrust in their optics.

Ironhide continued to remain calm, despite how much pain he was in, and spoke for his fellow officers, Jetfire and Jazz. "There is a reason as to why we didn't tell any of you. We didn't want to alert the spy that we were on to him-"

"Stop making excuses Ironhide!" The little dark blue femme cut him off. Ironhide could no longer look Arcee in the optics, for all he saw was hurt and distrust. He also couldn't bring up how he actually _saw_ the whole thing either.

But his silence didn't keep Hot Shot quiet. "So do you bots know who the spy is?" Ironhide, Jetfire, and Jazz stayed quiet, unsure how to respond to his innocent question. This only seemed to infuriate the autobot warriors.

"Well come on then, give us an answer!" Wheeljack's demand was the last thing said before an all-out outbreak happened. The tense atmosphere caused the bots to start shouting, pushing, and shoving each other, accusing one another of being the traitor.

Before a real brawl could start, Ironhide halfheartedly raised one of his beloved cannons to the ceiling and fired a single shot. The explosion caused all the autobots to stop their advance on each other. "Good, you've all stopped acting like a bunch of sparklings. Now we can get back to the real problem." He growled, feeling the beginnings of a processor ache. Their behavior was irritating him and his adrenalin had finally died down, so his injuries were now really starting to hurt him. He sucked in air to try and cool his overheating systems and continued, "We do not know for sure who the traitor is; all we know is that he is somewhere in this room. This does NOT give you permission to go after each other. We're doing our best to figure out who it is. So please, stop the accusations." The majority of the bots seemed to relax, but there were still a few agitated among the crowd.

Arcee let out a huff, causing everyone to look her way again. "Why are we all acting like we don't already know who the back stabber is?" She looked to her fellow autobots and saw the confused expressions. "Think about it, none of this started till HE showed up!" Arcee pointed an accusing finger at an unsuspecting Moonshadow. All optics laid on the youngest bot in the army. His only response was his optics darting back and forth amongst his comrades.

Chromia spoke up for him. "Really Arcee? He's just a-"

"A what? A youngling? It's just a mask to hide behind. Our 'bad luck' with the raids, relocation of HQ, and the death of _many _of our comrades all started when we pulled him out of that rubble." Arcee turned her back on her superior, and glared at Moonshadow, who was now standing alone in the corner. "I say we throw him back in the hole we found him."

"Arcee Stop!"

The command was ignored as Arcee attacked Moonshadow, holding nothing back. She landed several good punches before her forearm blades came out and did some damage on the youngling, who was surprisingly not fighting back. Arcee was violently thrown off Moonshadow, but steadied herself in midair and landed lightly on her feet. She growled at the mech who interfered. "Get out of the way!" But Arcee stopped her advances when she saw the fury in those scarred, dark blue optics. She backed down, "never mind…"

Ironhide stood protectively over Moonshadow, challenging any bot in the room to dare make another move towards the bleeding youngling. "That is ENOUGH." His low, menacing growl came from deep within his throat, making no autobot dare move in case he saw it as a threat. Now that he had every bot in check, he turned to Moonshadow and offered a friendly servo to help him up. The smaller, damaged mech smacked Ironhide's hand away and got up himself. He regarded everyone in the room with wounded optics, then ducked under Ironhide's arms and stormed out the nearest exit. No bot tried to stop him, but Bumblebee did go after his friend, just so he wouldn't be alone and in case he needed to be comforted. Ironhide turned his attention back to his autobots with a disapproving scowl. "Now you are all going to go back to your duties. I'll handle the spy problem."

"Just like that?" Bulkhead inquired.

"Yes Bulkhead, just like that. Now let me handle it." Ironhide rubbed his throbbing head.

Sideswipe frowned. "I'm sorry, but you don't seem to be doing a very good job 'handling it'."

Ironhide didn't get the chance to speak since Landmine cut in. "The kid has a point. Do you at least have a suspect list?"

"Yes, but-"

"Well at least you got something. Moonshadow better be on that list. He's really the only outsider among us." Ironhide wanted to defend the youngling, but Landmine wouldn't let him speak. "Yes, I get how he seems too young to have caused this much damage. But let's not forget, Ironhide, that you started killing when you were way younger then him. It's possible-"

"I get it!" Ironhide finally cut in. He would have done so earlier, but Landmine was older then he and Ironhide always tried to respect his elders. "But no bot is gonna know who's on the suspect list except for a selected few. Now, you are all dismissed." Other's had more to say, but they wisely choose to keep their mouths shut.

Prowl observed the whole situation from high above in the rafters. He took special notes on each individual bot on how they took the news. The night's events definitely made him think in a new perspective. Especially after witnessing Ironhide's reaction to Moonshadow's attack. In fact, Chromia's reaction was also suspicious. He jumped down and landed in front of the autobot leader and his mate. "You have some explaining to do." They both pushed past him and went to find Moonshadow. "Hey!" Prowl went to grab Ironhide's arm, but Ratchet stopped him.

"Just follow," the Chief Medical Officer turned to the other few bots present, "all of you." He, Prowl, Jetfire, and Jazz followed the couple out of the room.

They found the youngest members of the autobot army down the hall. Moonshadow was on the floor, leaning against the wall with his knees brought up and face buried in arms. Bumblebee was sitting next to him with a hand on his shoulder. The yellow scout got out of the way as Ironhide and Chromia bent down in front of Moonshadow. He looked up, and the older Cybertronians saw that he had a cut up lip. Chromia pulled Moonshadow up and hugged him.

"Wha she doin?" Jetfire voiced the thoughts that were going through everyone's heads.

Ratchet rolled his optics, "What does it look like she's doing? She's comforting him you dumb aft."

Moonshadow saw for the first time that they weren't alone, and pulled away from Chromia. She protested, "Get back over here!" Moonshadow shook his head, and looked over at Prowl, Jazz, Jetfire, and Bumblebee who was now standing over there as well. "Forget about them, we don't care anymore." Chromia pulled the youngling to her again and started analyzing his injuries.

"But-" Moonshadow started to object.

"Listen," Ironhide's gruff voice ordered. He then took the two bots that were closest to his spark in his arms, embracing them.

All the other bots' jaws dropped, excluding Ratchet's. Jazz recovered first and spoke up, "Wait! Wait just a nano sec! Since when did you two have a sparkling!?" His question was ignored as the small family who finally got to enjoy each other's company for the first time since Ironhide became leader of the autobots. "Okay, never mind. It doesn't look like they wanna talk, but can some bot please explain what's going on please."

It was Ironhide who decided to shed some light on the turn of events. He told them how Chromia and he had always wanted a sparkling of their own, but with the war they didn't think it was a good idea. They felt that their sparkling would be a high level target, just like them. They agreed that they weren't going to have any kids until the end of the war, but then Bumblebee came along and was put into Ironhide's care. Bee made them realize that they truly did want a sparkling of their own and there was always the possibility that they would never get the chance if they kept waiting for the war to end. So they waited until Bumblebee was old enough to fend for his own. Then Chromia secretly conceived Moonshadow and Ratchet helped deliver him. They didn't tell any bot about him, not even Optimus. They figured that the less bots who knew, the better. Moonshadow was raised at a hidden location only known by Chromia, Ironhide, and Ratchet. At a very young age, he started training to be an autobot warrior. His parents knew that if he was ever discovered to be theirs, his life would be in great danger. He needed to know how to kill quickly and efficiently. They originally planned to introduce Moonshadow to everyone when he was fully grown, but when Ironhide was promoted to autobot leader those plans changed. Sneaking away to go take care of him would have been impossible with the new work load, so at one battle they 'accidentally' discovered the youngling. It was all staged, but if Moonshadow was found then no bot would suspect that he was the son of Ironhide and Chromia, the unstoppable bots with no weakness but each other. With Moonshadow in the autobot army, it was easier to watch him. They just had to be careful to never show any relations with him for his own safety. It was a painful experience for them, but they made it work.

With this new information, everything made sense to Prowl. Moonshadow had such awkward 'people skills' because he never spoke with anyone until they found him other than his parents and Ratchet. And if Moonshadow was Ironhide's son, then of course Ironhide wouldn't think the spy was him. He was just defending his kid. Jetfire would always get mad since his excuses were bad, but a good one couldn't be given without giving away who Moonshadow truly was. Ratchet had such a high tolerance for him because he helped raise him, hence why he never got mad when he was late for his check-ups. Moonshadow and Bumblebee had such similar fighting styles since they _were _raised by the same bots. And Moonshadow always liked to be around Chromia since she was his mom, and what child doesn't like to be around their mother when they are in a different place then what they are used too. The youngling would constantly watch Ironhide because he was trying to learn his father's ways without being obvious. All his actions made him look suspicious, but his intentions were always good. The police officer felt disappointed in himself for not noticing all the signs sooner. Prowl walked to Moonshadow and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I want to apologize for suspecting you as the traitor."

Moonshadow smiled a smile that looked a lot like Ironhide's, making it even more obvious that he was his kid. "You were just doing your job. But if it's okay with you, can I stop being your personal assistant?"

Prowl lightly laughed, "Yeah, you're free to go."

"Great, enough with all this fluff. Ironhide, my med bay. Now!" Ratchet order and started shoving the overgrown mech in that direction.

"I'm going, I'm going," Ironhide shoved back. "But let's agree to keep Moonshadow's identity a secret. We still don't know who the spy is and it would be best if he doesn't know about this." Everyone agreed.

Bumblebee and Moonshadow were left alone as the older Cybertronians got back to their duties. The yellow scout was looking at his black and dark blue friend with a smug look in his face. "What?" Moonshadow asked. Bumblebee made a weird series of excited beeps. His answer had them both smiling, "Yeah, I guess you're right. We're brothers…"

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><p><strong>And so Moonshadow's identity is revealed! <strong>


	19. Chapter 19: Holiday Mission

**Last Chapter was a little dark, so this one is gonna be more on the bright side :) **** And I Know this chapter looks long, but that's just because of all the song lyrics in it, I SWEAR**

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><p><span><strong>Holiday Mission<strong>

Charlotte and Derek had been together for about six months, and they had yet to get tired of each other. Every holiday since they had been together, Derek spent with Charlotte. For Halloween they had gone as a Mario and Princess Peach couple. Charlotte had loved the idea of wearing pink, but she couldn't help but think how the colors of red and blue did not go with Derek. Those colors were specifically reserved for some bot else. For the next upcoming holiday she had originally thought that for Thanksgiving Derek was going to spend it at her house. But in the early days of November, those plans changed. Derek had taken a very excited Charlotte on a date to go snowboarding on a mountain; she had been looking forward to this date for weeks since she had never been snowboarding. Charlotte was a fast learner, but on one of the slopes, she lost control and ran into another snowboarder. It was an accident and while Charlotte was making her way back up the slope to apologize to the dirty blonde haired girl she hit, Derek was helping her up. At first he didn't recognized the sandy blonde, but by the time Charlotte arrived, Derek was squeezing her in a tight hug. Charlotte was confused by his actions, and waited for the two to separate before making herself known.

Waiting was taking longer than she thought, so she coughed. "Eh hem!" she had no patience what so ever.

Derek broke away but still held the arms of the other girl, who somehow still had perfect hair after being run over. "Oh Charlotte! I forgot you were there."

"It's fine," she smiled. "Who's this? And sorry for running you over…still learning." Charlotte sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

The blonde, who had yet to let go of Derek, answered for herself, "nah, don't worry about it. I'm Jennifer. You two know each other?" She indicated to Derek and Charlotte with her eyes, her eye makeup also still somehow perfect.

"I was gonna ask ya the same thing." Charlotte answered, putting a hand on her hip.

Derek was looking back and forth between the two girls, then he let go of Jennifer. "Yeah, I've got some explaining to do…" This interested the brunette and blonde so he continued to introduce the two of them. "Jenny, this is Charlotte, my girlfriend. Charlotte, this is Jenny, my…I guess you would say my ex-girlfriend."

"Oh…" Charlotte awkwardly shook hands with Jennifer. "Huh…why the 'guess' on 'ex-girlfriend'?" She noticed that Derek was still standing unnecessarily close to 'perfect everything' Jenny.

"It's complicated?" Derek tried, but Charlotte was still confused.

"I'll explain," Jennifer volunteered. She told Charlotte how about half a year ago, she was together with Derek. They were dating, and they were happy. Tragedy struck and Jennifer lost her best friend to a drunk driver. She was grieving and pushed everyone away, including Derek. Not long after her friend's death, Derek was forced to move away because of his dad's job. They never 'officially' ended their relationship, but they also never expected to see each other again. "So yeah, there's the shortened version of it." She was looking at Derek with sad, but vibrant blue eyes.

Charlotte could easily see that the two had unresolved issues, and it was obvious that the two also still had feelings for each other. She decided to be the better person and let them have some space. "Well…" she faked a stretch and looked at her watch in the process. "Oh my! Is that the time!? I have to go. Why don't you two catch up? It was good meeting you; I'll see you later Derek." She turned on her heel and started heading down the slope.

Derek came running after her, "Charlotte, where ya going? Don't leave."

"No please, you two need this time to catch up. Don't worry about me, I got a ride coming." Charlotte patted him on the shoulder with a fake smile. She made it look convincing, but had to try a little harder keeping it up when she saw Derek's face light up with excitement.

"Thanks Charabunga," He gave her a quick hug and sped off back up to flawless Jenny.

Charlotte let out a sigh, bummed since she had really been looking forward to this date with Derek, but ruined since she literally ran over his ex-girlfriend. She tried to shake it off and called Optimus for a ride. By the time she got to the bottom of the slope, he and Leo were waiting in the parking lot in their holoforms. At first they were gonna ask her why they were picking her up and why she wasn't with Derek, but then they saw that she was feeling down. They saw it as their rightful duty to make her feel better. It was when she had already checked-in her rented snowboard gear and on her way over to them when the music started blasting from the fire engine. She jumped, along with everyone else that was around. Charlotte looked at the autobots for an explanation, but her jaw dropped from what she saw. Orion was dancing to the music in the snow, purposely causing a scene just for her. He was even mouthing the words and pointing at her, causing all the passerby to look her way as well.

_You ain't going nowhere long as he's the driver  
>You can ride with him but he'll never be the same same same<br>One look at ya tells me that you wanna be taken higher  
>See the problem is you wish he could make you feel the way I do<em>

_Why waste time when you know I got it_  
><em>C'mon girl you know you want it<em>  
><em>You know it's impossible to get what you're looking for<em>  
><em>From him he can't do it<em>  
><em>Like me I'm goin' prove it I got a question can you help me out<em>

_How many people can do it like me ZERO_  
><em>Keep it so cool like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody<em>  
><em>Else that can make it so hot like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Take it to the top like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody ZERO<em>

She ran up and started pushing the holoform of Optimus into the fire truck, her face red with embarrassment since the Prime was trying to act all gangster and cool. Bystanders were either laughing or smiling at the pair, thinking it was young love or something. Once they were inside the truck, Optimus took off down the road continuing to play the song much to Charlotte's enjoyment cause he kept singing to her the words in his holoform.

_It ain't a good look without me in your corner  
>You can rock with him but he'll never fill my space space space<br>One look at him tells me that he ain't the right one for you  
>I don't understand why you settle being here in second place<em>

_Why waste time when you know I got it_  
><em>C'mon girl you know you want it<em>  
><em>You know it's impossible to get what you're looking for<em>  
><em>From him he can't do it<em>  
><em>Like me I'm goin' prove it I got a question can you help me out<em>

_How many people can do it like me ZERO_  
><em>Keep it so cool like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody<em>  
><em>Else that can make it so hot like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Take it to the top like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody ZERO<em>

_There's only one guy that can make you feel right that's me, myself, and I_  
><em>So why even try to make it work<em>  
><em>With him only you know I'm the original<em>

_How many people can do it like me ZERO_  
><em>Keep it so cool like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody<em>  
><em>Else that can make it so hot like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Take it to the top like me ZERO<em>  
><em>Girl you know there ain't nobody nobody ZERO<em>

Needless to say, it was a fun and crazy car ride home. The two autobots thought the mission was a success since Charlotte was happily smiling and dancing along, but they realized things were not in the all clear zone once they arrived home. Charlotte got out of the truck laughing, but it soon turned into a rough coughing when she breathed in the cold air. It got worst while she was just standing there so Optimus, concerned for her health, picked her up bride style and carried her into the house. He laid her on the recliner couch and told her that he was going to scan her.

"Don't scan me," she protested.

"Scan complete," Optimus ignored her.

"Unbelievable!" She had gotten sick while she was out snowboarding. This would not do for the Prime. He ordered Leo to cleanse the house of all infections while he went straight to the kitchen and started making Charlotte soup. "Guys, I'm not dying-" She started lifting herself off the couch, but was gently forced back down by Optimus.

"I don't care, we're going to take care of you. Now rest," he grabbed a nearby blanket and tucked her in. She huffed, but gave in when Optimus started taking off her shoes so she could be more comfortable. She wasn't used to being treated like a queen, and she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face; she was liking this. Her soup was soon ready and Optimus fed her. After that he got her more pillows so she would be comfortable for her nap. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but she was awoken from her dream about Optimus being Superman to the sounds of her parents coming home. Robert was complaining about the house being too clean, while Anna was rather enjoying it. Charlotte rolled her eyes at their discussion, but then her thoughts wondered back to her dream. It wasn't the first time she dreamed about the autobot leader, it was just the first time that she woke up realizing that she had fallen for him a long time ago.

"Oh crap."

Weeks later when Thanksgiving rolled around, Charlotte wasn't that surprised to find out that Derek was invited by picture-perfect Jenny to go to her house for Thanksgiving. He had known her family really well when they were together and had really wanted to see them again. Charlotte was okay with losing him to Jennifer; what happened to them was unfair. Plus, lately she couldn't get another boy out of her head. Ever since the failed snowboarding date, Optimus was the first and last thing Charlotte thought about. He had become her favorite part of the day again, just like old times. If Derek didn't break up with her soon, she might with him. She felt that Derek should get the chance to be with Jennifer again, and she just couldn't shake all of the good memories she had with Optimus.

Turkey Day was being held at her house that year. Charlotte loved her family, but when the entire family was all in one place, they could be a little too much to handle. It was after they feasted on all the delicious food when Charlotte snuck away to go see Optimus. Leo was actually at the party being DJ much to his own amusement. When she pasted the camouflaged shield she expected to see the Prime walking around doing stuff, but she was wrong. She actually had to look for him, which worried her. She calmed down when she found him asleep in his snow covered A-shaped shelter. She was going to head back, but the graceful giant somehow detected her silent footsteps and awoke.

He poked his head out of his shelter. "Is there something wrong, Charlotte?"

"Oh hey! I didn't know you were here." He gave her a puzzled look. "Okay, no, I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out for a bit." She sweetly asked, hiding a snowball behind her back.

Optimus squinted his optics at the innocent looking girl, knowing that gaze all too well. He was on to her, and she knew it. Before he could say anything she threw the snowball. It hit the top of his shelter. "You missed," Optimus said, unimpressed. Charlotte stood there smirking. Optimus, not liking her expression, looked up only to have a huge pile of snow fall on his head. The cold, frozen water made its way through his armor and to his sensitive protoform, causing Cybertron's finest warrior to yelp as he jumped up, flailing his arms trying to get the snow out of his circuits. His actions caused Charlotte to laugh, but she full on fell to the ground laughing hysterically when Optimus, in his attempt to get the snow out, accidentally broke his entire shelter apart. Charlotte was practically crying in the snow for how much she was laughing. "Oh, you think this is funny?"

She was having a hard time breathing, but she finally managed in between laughs to say, "Oh my gosh, yes! You should've seen," she couldn't finish due to her laughter.

Once Optimus had fully gotten all the snow out of his armor, he ran at her. "I'll show you funny."

Charlotte was amazingly quick and dodged his first attempt to grab here. "Too slow big guy!" She ran off in the direction of the clearing where the two always seemed to have a moment. She easily made her way through the trees, while Optimus had to slow his pursuit to not trash the place. Once she was in the clearing she had some time to make a bunch of snow balls. Then Optimus appeared and they had a mini stare off before Charlotte opened fire and through the snowballs, hitting her target. He was hard to miss because of his size. Their little game was unfair for Optimus since he couldn't actually return fire on the smaller life form, so he instead brushed the snow up around her with the back of his hand to shower her in clouds of snow powder. It worked for him since this caused her to giggle, a sound that was music to his audio receptors. Their fight went on for a good little while before Optimus changed his tactic and inhaled a bunch of air and blew in Charlotte's direction. The gust of wind picked up a lot of snow and made her fall onto her back. Optimus came up to her, thinking he won, but she was doing something odd in the snow.

"What are you doing?" He bent down beside the girl who was moving her arms and legs back-and-forth.

"It's called a snow angel dummy." Charlotte carefully got up so she wouldn't mess up her art. "See?" She pointed at the imprint she made.

"How interesting…"

Charlotte had an idea. "You try it!" When he shook his head 'no' she gave him her puppy dog face, an expression she had learned that he never refused.

Optimus sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine, you win your highness." It was only with her that he didn't act like Optimus Prime, but rather Orion Pax. He was grateful that none of his autobots were around to see this. He laid down in a part of the clearing where he could fit and did the same arms and legs swaying motions that he saw Charlotte do. After he did that a couple times, he carefully got up. He looked at what he made and let a chuckle escape him.

"I wanna see; pick me up." Optimus did as he was asked and lifted her off the ground. Charlotte was placed on his shoulder and looked at what he made. She laughed as she compared hers to his. "Mine's so tiny! And look, yours has your antennas! That's cute!" She felt Optimus sway a little, causing her to become unbalanced. "Are you alright?" She had to grab onto his helmet so she wouldn't fall.

"Yes…I'm fine."

She wanted to pursue more, but she felt bad for straining him even further. "Let's sit down." She directed Optimus to a tree that looked like it could hold his weight if he leaned on it. Optimus sat down and picked Charlotte up from his shoulder and held her in his hands above his chest. He held her as he rested. She didn't know why he was so drained and it concerned her, but she decided to wait to ask when he was stronger.

They rested as they listened to the sounds of nature, enjoying each other's company as the sun was setting. Charlotte was staring up into the heavens when she felt Optimus shift her. She was about to ask what he was doing when she saw the deer walk into the clearing. She went completely still and quiet so she wouldn't scare the animal off. Soon, the lone deer was followed by a few others of its kind. Charlotte watched how over time a bunch of animals started coming out. The ones that didn't hibernate because of the weather were playing all around them. Charlotte looked at Optimus to see his reaction, but he looked as if this was a normal thing. He saw her staring at him and smiled a little. Then he surprisingly stood up and walked to the middle of the clearing where a bunch of little foxes were playing. Charlotte was amazed how all the little critters weren't scared of Optimus. She was lost for words when he put her down in the snow and all the animals looked at her. He was on a knee behind her and she squeaked as she tried to hide behind him. A moose approached her and smelled her. Her scent smelled like the giant metal thing that all the animals have come to get used to. The moose then continued right on past Charlotte, not seeing her as a threat. The other animals then went back to what they were originally doing, though some of the younger ones were interested in Charlotte. She giggled as some squirrels and foxes sniffed her and started messing with her. She looked up to see Optimus's optics shinning with cheerfulness.

"You're not worried that they will hurt me?" Charlotte asked as a fox was pulling on her jacket.

"They have associated you with me. They will not do anything that I won't approve. They have figured out that I don't want to hurt them, unless they give me a reason to."

Charlotte thought that this was one of the coolest things. But then laughed to herself as another thought came to mind. "So…you're like a Disney princess with all these animals."

Her connotation made Optimus lightly chuckle. "The things you come up with, though, I am technically royalty with me being Prime and all." He reminded. He heard her mumble 'true' but then Leo sent him a silent message saying that Charlotte's family was wondering where she was for she had been gone for too long and it was getting dark. "Come now, it is time that you went back to celebrating this holiday." Charlotte reluctantly agreed and he took her back to his hidden base where she walked the rest of the way to her house. Optimus was about to start fixing his broken shelter when he heard a twig snap. He turned toward the direction of the sound half expecting it to be Charlotte, but it was someone else. "Oh, is it that time already?" he questioned.

"Yep, you ready?" Charlotte's mom, Anna, asked from where she was leaning on a tree with her arms crossed.

"Of course, do you have the blueprints?" The Prime asked as he picked Anna up off the ground and put her on his stone table. She nodded and laid out a large, previously rolled up blue paper. The sheet showed a layout of her work building.

"The energon we found is located in this storage unit." She pointed to one of the many squares on the paper. "There shouldn't be that much security since its Thanksgiving and no one wants to be working on a holiday, ya know?"

"Not really," Optimus reminded. "In wartime, there are no holiday breaks, just more bloodshed." Anna started to apologize for forgetting the civil war waging his planet, but he waved it off. "It's alright, Anna. It is easy to overlook my war since it hasn't greatly affected your life, though I dearly hope it never will." Optimus would never forgive himself if he led the decepticons to this innocent planet. "Now, thank you for all your help. I will be back as soon as possible.

Anna stood up quickly, "Hold on, I'm coming with you."

Optimus looked at her sternly. "No. You will stay here and host for this human holiday. I can handle this simple task of retrieving energon." She started to protest again, but he held up his hand to silence her. "If I'm not back by morning than you can worry. I'm a big bot who can look after himself," he said as he patted Anna's head.

There was a slightly annoyed expression on Anna's face for being petted, but she shrugged it off. "Fine…I just worry about you. We all see you and Leo as part of the family so please be careful." She saw a warm smile break across his faceplates.

"I will, I promise." With that, Optimus left.

The reason why Optimus was even looking for energon was because his energon storage was practically gone. He hadn't had his fill in months, saving whatever he had for Leo so the little growing bot wouldn't feel starved, making Optimus constantly weak and tired. In fact, neither Leo nor Charlotte knew about the low energon problem since they didn't want to worry them. Optimus was going to Anna's work because a few days prior, a group of scientists had uncovered a big pile of energon in New Mexico. The researchers hadn't known what they discovered but were told that the Timber Wolves squad in Arizona had the most experience with that type of thing. So the unknown substance was stored at the Timber Wolves's base for further examination for after the holiday. When Anna saw what her coworkers had brought in, she quickly grabbed some blueprints of the base so she could help Optimus sneak in, get the energon, and get out. She was just worried that Optimus wouldn't be able to pull it off because of weak condition.

The Prime arrived at the base in little under an hour. It was conveniently located in the woods, away from the public. Even though it was nighttime Optimus could see with his night vision that all around the huge, complicated building that had many structures were signs that said "No Trespassing", "Restricted Area", "Danger", and things like "Government Property".

"Well I think I'm in the right place," Optimus said to himself. He drove as close as he could to the electrical fence and then shot out an EMP burst, making all electrical devices malfunction and shut off. He dizzily transformed, stepped over the now harmless fence, and snuck over to the storage units. He shook his head to clear his dizziness and started stocking up on energon and putting it into his subspace. He decided to take random things that looked as if they had been there for a while so that Anna wouldn't look suspicious as well. It would be strange if the energon that just got there suddenly was stolen. It would seem like someone was helping on the inside. The things he grabbed were of no use to him and he didn't know what he would use them for; he'd probably just give them to Leo to play with. Optimus was on his way out when he stumbled upon the six guys on security detail that night. There was an awkward silence of just staring at each other for a while, all surprised. Optimus slowly raised his hand to wave hi, but the humans instead opened fire on him. Normally bullets wouldn't be able to penetrate his armor, but his armor was weak from never being properly fixed from his last battle with Megatron and it being four and a half years since anything was done to reinforce it. The bullets broke through and hit his protoform. Usually, Optimus was used to pain, but then again, it had been a long time since he was in a fight. He was unprepared as his body started hurting from all over. He raised his hand to block the shots as best he could and started running towards the exit. Since communications were down the security guys weren't able to call for back up and Optimus got away.

It was late when he arrived home so all the guest were long gone. He drove into the driveway and parked when Charlotte came running out followed by Anna, Robert, and Leo. Tony wasn't there since he was still in college doing his ROTC stuff. Optimus was surprised to see Charlotte and Leo running up to him and transformed, but his knees gave out so he ended up sitting on his legs in front of the family in a slouched positon.

Charlotte started yelling at him with the beginning of tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me something was wrong!? Do you know how that makes me feel? I've never been so scared…" She was lightly crying now, so Optimus picked her up to reassure her that he was there. His normally warm body was cold from the lack of energon, making Charlotte really cry because she knew he was truly not feeling well.

"I'm sorry, I won't do that to you again." Optimus still attempted to comfort. He then looked at Anna.

She answered his unasked question. "Leo overheard me talking to Robert about you being gone and told Charlotte. I couldn't keep it a secret. Besides, how were you going to explain all those bullet holes?" Anna asked when she saw his damaged body. There were bullet holes all throughout his body and some had a little bit of energon leaking out. His face had small scratches on it from the bullets that grazed it. His left optic was a little cracked and there was an obvious bullet hole in one of his sensitive antennas.

"I've been worst, don't worry about it. I at least got the energon," Optimus tried to brighten the mood. It didn't work. "Anyways, I also grabbed some other things from the base to avoid suspicion of an accomplice."

"Oh…that was smart," Anna realized. She saw that Charlotte still hadn't recovered and decided to try and give her and Optimus some time together. "Now then, it's good that your mission was a success. Come on boys, I need help cleaning up that messy kitchen." She continued to drag a complaining Robert and Leo inside the house, leaving the other two alone.

Optimus started to gently rub Charlotte's back to try and calm her. She would normally like to be under his chin and cuddle with his neck, but she had hit a growth spirt and was now too big to fit under his chin. "Charlotte?" his rich voice was soft, trying to get a reaction from her.

_'Why does he have to say my name like that? His voice is so full of concern…'_ Charlotte thought to herself, and then said out loud, "It's just…I never realized how much you meant to me." Optimus held her tighter as he struggled to rise to a standing position. He made his way to his base, letting her say all she needed to say. "I can't describe the way you make me feel. When you're around, everything just feels right. You're always on my mind and I can't imagine how I ever did things before you fell from the sky. You're closer to me than any of my best friends or family." She could hear his spark beating faster with every word she was saying. He stopped walking, just outside the camouflaged shield, when she crawled out of his hands and onto his shoulder. Charlotte couldn't even feel the cold November night when she gazed into his golden optics. "Optimus…I think…I think," she couldn't get it out. She couldn't stop thinking about how she almost lost him and that thought was making her shut down.

"Charlotte," Optimus said her name full of adoration. Her hazel eyes looked green in the moonlight. "You may or may not have noticed just how much you also mean to me." Her tearstained face brightened. He decided to just come out and say it. "Charlotte, my little one, you have my Spark." His voice was full of affection. "I don't know when I started falling for you, but it might have been when you first graced your smile upon me. A smile…that you are giving me right now."

She hadn't realized that she was smiling. The tears that escaped Charlotte's eyes were now tears of joy, she couldn't believe that the one she had feelings for loved her the same way back. She couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her, she was just so happy. Charlotte bent closer to his face and kissed his metal cheek. "I love you, Optimus Prime." She felt his body temperature starting to return to its normal warm state.

"And I love you, Charlotte." Optimus kissed her entire head, making her laugh again.

Having giant metal lips press up against her head felt funny to Charlotte. This was definitely going to be a WAY more interesting relationship then with Derek. _If this is even possible_, a little voice inside her head said. She hated to admit it, but how was this going to work? "Optimus…" her voice was sad, "I really want this to work, but let's be reasonable. We would've said something about our feelings earlier if we had both thought that whatever we have could work out." Her voice cracked at the end, reality setting in.

Optimus was silent for a moment, understanding what she meant. How were they going to make a relationship work between them? There was just so much going against them, but he was stubborn and he wasn't going to let go. "Forget about all the reasons why it won't work," He was looking at Charlotte with determination that she had never seen before, "And believe in the _one_ reason why it will."

Her face was unreadable at first, but then it softened. "Yes…I agree." Her head bent forward and head-butted his. What they were trying to do was probably considered wrong or bad, but she didn't care, it felt right and good to her. However, another thought came to her, "Now what would my mom think if I'm dating an older man?" She giggled.

"Well, technically you're eighteen so we're not breaking any laws. We're allowed to date."

_Leave it to Optimus to find loop hole_, Charlotte thought. She would have said something, but both she and Optimus looked up when they heard a song playing. They saw Leo acting like he hadn't heard anything. He continued to follow the two until his song that he played for them ended.

_I know all about,  
>Yea about your reputation<br>And now it's bound to be a heartbreak situation  
>But I can't help it if I'm helpless<br>Every time that I'm where you are  
>You walk in and my strength walks out the door<br>Say my name and I can't fight it any more  
>Oh I know, I should go<br>But I need your touch just too damn much  
>Loving you, isn't really something I should do<br>I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you ya  
>Well I should try to be strong<br>But baby you're the right kind of wrong  
>Ya, baby you're the right kind of wrong<em>

_It might be a mistake_  
><em>A mistake I'm makin'<em>  
><em>But what your giving I am happy to be taking<em>  
><em>Cause no one's ever made me feel<em>  
><em>The way I feel when I'm in your arms<em>

_They say your somethin I should do without_  
><em>They don't know what goes on<em>  
><em>When the lights go out<em>  
><em>There's no way to explain<em>  
><em>All the pleasure is worth all the pain<em>  
><em>Loving you, That isn't really something I should do ya-hey<em>  
><em>I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you ya<em>  
><em>Well I should try to be strong<em>  
><em>But baby you're the right kind of wrong<em>  
><em>Ya, baby you're the right kind of wrong<em>

_I should try to run but I just can't seem to_  
><em>'Cause every time I run your the one I run to<em>  
><em>Can't do without what you do to me,<em>  
><em>I don't care if I'm in to deep yeah<em>

_I know all about,_  
><em>Yea about your reputation<em>  
><em>And now it's bound to be a heartbreak situation<em>  
><em>But I can't help it if I'm helpless<em>  
><em>Every time that I'm where you are<em>

_You walk in and my strength walks out the door_  
><em>Say my name and I can't fight it any more<em>  
><em>Oh I know, I should go<em>  
><em>But I need your touch just too damn much<em>  
><em>Hey-yeah<em>  
><em>Loving you, yeah, isn't really something I should do<em>  
><em>I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you ya<em>  
><em>Well I should try to be strong, I should try to be strong<em>  
><em>But baby you're the right kind of wrong (right kind of wrong)<em>  
><em>Baby you're the right kind of wrong<em>  
><em>Baby you're the right kind of wrong<em>

_Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong_

Not long after that fateful Thanksgiving night the family got together to talk with Optimus and Leo. Everyone knew that the energon storage wasn't going to last the two bots forever and that something needed to be done. Together they officially made a plan to sneak into the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex to send a message directly to Cybertron to unsure that some Cybertronian would get the message. There was still the risk that the decepticons would get the message before the autobots, but Optimus was going to take the chance. In order for the plan to work, everyone was going to need to play a part. Research on the facility was done and they decided that they would attempt it in a month so Optimus would have some time to recover. Plus, it would be around Christmas time when they went, so Tony would be home. When he did come home a month later he was filled in on their plan and given a part.

"Not to change the subject," Tony stated when he first heard the news, "but I got four tickets to go to Disneyland and I was thinking since we were going to California anyways, maybe we could even enjoy the trip with a little family va-ca."

Robert instantly liked the idea. "We gonna see Mickey!" He ran upstairs to grab his granddad's old Disneyland sweater that he loved to wear.

"I married a child," Anna sighed into her hand. She turned to Optimus's holoform that was helping Tony with his baggage. "Is it okay with you? I'm sure we'll be able to still sneak into the facility."

Optimus couldn't see why they couldn't, they had planned to sneak into the complex at night so why not have fun during the day. "It'll be fun to go to Disneyland; Leo nor I have been anyways." Tony groaned. "Is everything alright?"

"No, Optimus, I only have four tickets. Trying to get more now is going to be really expensive since its Christmas time."

Leo came up and patted Tony on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it dude, O.P. and I can easily just activate our holoforms inside the park. No charge." He winked.

So with this new addiction to the trip, the Ire family and two autobots headed to California. Optimus provided the transportation to save Anna and Robert gas money. The roughly seven hour road trip consisted of Leo playing a bunch of love songs while Tony told his parents about his experience in college and the ROTC program. He apparently had a new best friend that he wanted them to meet sometime. When they finally arrived at the hotel in California it was around eight o'clock in the evening. Charlotte and Tony snuck off to go find the heated pool. Anna and Robert made the hotel room more homey buy putting food in the refrigerator and stuff like that. Optimus went straight to bed, drained from the long drive. Leo found his own little corner and continued working on a secret gift that not even Optimus knew about.

The next morning everyone was awaken early buy Robert whacking pots and pans together. "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey! Continental breakfast! Get up, get ready, eat, and let's go!" While the sleepy humans prepared for the long day ahead, Optimus left the hotel and rented a black BMW. The extra vehicle was part of their Plan B for later that night. Optimus was back just in time to pick up the Ire family and drive them to Disneyland. During the drive to the park, Robert was telling Optimus and Leo about all the rides and how his favorite was Space Mountain. "Granted, it's probably nothing like real space, but it sure is fun." Optimus parked and the family took the Tram the rest of the way. Not long after that they were in the park.

"Alright Leo, you and Optimus can come now." Charlotte told the IPod in her pocket. Moments later, two blue haired boys walked up to the Ire family.

Leo's eyes were filled with wonder as they tried to take everything in. "This is Awesome!" The park by itself was magnificent, and since it was Christmas time the place was decorated with lights, snow, and all sorts of other glorious things. They took pictures with the characters that they came by and got fast passes to all the rides, courtesy of Optimus showing the park workers holo images of the passes. Needless to say, the day was going extremely well. Later during the day, after the humans ate lunch, Leo noticed something. "Why are people blocking off parts of the area? And why are all those people just waiting off to the side?"

"They're waiting for the parade that's going to happen soon." Tony answered after he put the pamphlet with the Event Times back into his _Nightmare Before Christmas_ hoodie.

"Can we watch it?" Leo asked with pleading eyes, his Mickey Mouse ear hat falling over his eyes.

"Of course! It's your guys' first Disneyland parade. Y'all gotta see it." Robert assured. He found a good spot for all of them to see the parade. It was going to be awhile until it started, so Anna went and got everyone churros. Leo and Optimus wondered how they tasted, but their holoforms weren't advanced enough to do so. Soon after that, the music in the area changed to the music for the parade. Leo was jumping up and down on the side lines with delight, this was the coolest thing so far. Optimus liked the parade, but he enjoyed watching the kids' faces light up with excitement better. This place did seem magical in its own little way. Throughout the parade there was a song that kept playing and Optimus added it to his favorites list.

_Everyone's invited, this is how we live  
>We're all here for each other<br>happy to give  
>All we have we share<br>And all of us we care, so come on..._

_Welcome to our family time_  
><em>Welcome to our brotherly time<em>  
><em>We're happy giving and taking<em>  
><em>to the friends we're making<em>  
><em>There's nothing we won't do<em>

_Welcome to our family time_  
><em>Welcome to our happy to be time<em>  
><em>This is our festival<em>  
><em>you know and best of all<em>

_We're here to share it all_

_There's a bond between us  
>nobody can explain<br>It's a celebration of life  
>and seeing friends again<br>I'd be there for you  
>I know you'd be there for me too...<br>so come on_

_Welcome to our family time_  
><em>Welcome to our brotherly time<em>  
><em>This is our festival<em>  
><em>you know and best of all<em>  
><em>We're here to share it all<em>

_Remembering loved ones departed_  
><em>Someone dear to your heart<em>  
><em>Finding love, and planning a future<em>  
><em>Telling stories and laughing with friends<em>  
><em>Precious moments you'll never forget<em>

Optimus was observing the happiness radiating off of Charlotte. She along with Leo felt like nothing could be better than the present moment. All was well. Robert and Anna weren't even worrying about anything, and of course Tony was just as happy as can be since he was with his family again. Optimus remembered when he first arrived to Earth how he thought it was possibly the worst thing that had ever happened to him, but in all actuality it was the best. He met Charlotte, Leo came into existence, and he had a new place to call home.

_This has to be the most beautiful_  
><em>The most peaceful place<em>  
><em>I've ever been to<em>  
><em>It's nothing like I've ever seen before<em>  
><em>When I think of how far I've come<em>  
><em>I can't believe it...and yet I see it<em>  
><em>In them I see family<em>  
><em>I see the way we used to be<em>

Charlotte saw Optimus watching them and pulled him into the celebration, not wanting him to be left out.

_Come on..._

_Welcome to our family time_  
><em>Welcome to our brotherly time<em>  
><em>We're happy giving and taking<em>  
><em>to the friends we're making<em>  
><em>There's nothing we won't do<em>

_Welcome to our family time_  
><em>Welcome to our happy to be time<em>  
><em>This is our festival<em>  
><em>you know and best of all<em>  
><em>We're here to share it all<em>

For the rest of the day, everyone had smiles superglued on their faces. Leo's favorite part of the day was the parade, but Optimus's was the fireworks. He stood there watching them behind Charlotte with arms wrapped around her. She was leaning into him as she watched the colorful explosions in the sky. During the fireworks, Optimus spoke softly into Charlotte's ear, "So this is the Happiest Place on Earth? It's not bad…" He rested his chin on her head.

Charlotte smirked. "It's really a matter of preference on a person's Happiest Place on Earth. Personally, my happiest place is in your embrace." She felt him chuckle from behind her.

After the fireworks ended they went back to the hotel. The humans freshened up a little and changed into the appropriate clothes for the night. Robert and Tony changed into black suits, Anna also wore a suit minus the tie, and Charlotte dressed the part of an intern. Around ten Optimus started his drive to the Mojave Desert, pulling the black BMW behind him. They arrived after an hour of driving. Optimus parked a ways away from their destination.

"We have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Anna asked as she got out of the transformer to stretch.

"There's energon detectors all around the place. Plan A is a bust." Optimus sounded wound up. He really didn't want Charlotte and her family to do the mission for him since something could go wrong and it would be on him. He normally would deactivate the devices that could detect him with an EMP burst, but that would require a lot of energy and then the huge satellite dishes wouldn't work either.

"Don't worry, Oppy, we got this." Charlotte patted the fire engine before she got into the other vehicle with the rest of her family.

Optimus and Leo watched them drive away, towards the deep space complex. "They'll be fine, Oppy." Leo giggled.

"Shut up, Leo, only Charlotte can call me that."

The guard at the entrance to the place looked confused as to why a black car was coming his way. He was even more surprised when he saw the Sector Seven badge that Anna showed him. He let the vehicle inside the area without any questions. Robert drove to the buildings main entrance and dropped off Anna and Charlotte. The girls were approached by the assistant manager of the place. "How can I help you ladies?" He asked, a little worried as to why a person from the government's secret agency was there.

Anna barely glanced at the guy from over her clipboard and continued onto the building, Charlotte following nervously. "We're here for a surprise inspection." Anna acted as if she was irritated. "And before you ask any more unrelated questions, this is my intern." She indicated to Charlotte, who acted shy and did a little wave in the assistant manager's direction.

He did a little wave back at Charlotte, then turned back to Anna. "Okay, I get it. But why are you doing this so late at night." He slightly flinched at the piercing look her received from Anna from over her reading glasses.

"We at Sector Seven have more important things to do, but this needed to be done." The loose hairs that fell out of Anna's messy bun really help add to the feeling that she had a rough bad. "Besides, this is actually a good time to do a surprise inspection. I can see if workers decided to leave a messy work place, thinking that they will just clean it up in the morning."

"Yes ma'am, I'll just leave you to it then." The assistant manager gave them full rein of the place, not wanting to get on Anna's bad side.

Once they were alone in one of the halls, Charlotte whispered, "Geez mom, was all that really necessary?"

"It was if we wanted to get this done without someone peeking over our shoulder the entire time. Now come on, let's hurry up." They found the room where all the magic happens, so to speak, and Charlotte sat down at the main computer to stealthily plug in the blinking USB flash drive Optimus gave her. She then pretended to be bored and slightly spin around in the chair while Anna continued doing an inspection. After a few long minutes, the flash drive stopped blinking, indicating that it was done going into the system, covertly having all the huge satellite dishes work together to send out Optimus's message. "We good?" Anna asked. She received a nod from her daughter. They finished the rest of the inspection in thirty minutes. Before they could leave, they ran into the assistant manager again. "Here's all my notes. It wasn't too bad, this place has hope after all."

He took the papers. "Thanks, we'll get to fixing these ASAP. That was a rather quick inspection, but it's late so I doubt you really wanted to be here any longer than you need to." He shrugged. He looked at Charlotte again, "She's a little young don't you think? To be an intern for this type of work, I mean."

Anna deeply sighed as she watch Tony open the car door for Charlotte. "Yes, but the government is recruiting right out of high school these days." She changed the subject, "Now I can't tell you when the next inspection will be, nor what time of day it will happen, but this place has always done well. Thank you for your time, goodnight." Tony was still holding the door open for her. Once she was in, they took off. They didn't start celebrating the successful mission until they reached the spot where Optimus and Leo were waiting.

"That's excellent news! Thank you." Optimus acknowledged. He was glad that everything went according to plan, he now needed to wait until some bot received his message. He estimated that it would be a few months before someone got his message, figured out how to respond to it, and make their way to Earth. "Let's hope that the autobots get it before the decepticons."

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Jupiter's Moon – Lo<strong>_

Megatron's horned head perked up when his sensors picked up a Cybertronian message fly past the volcanic moon he was on. He put down the energon cube he was carrying and walked in the direction of where he detected the signal wave. It wasn't hard for him to do the math and figure out where it came from. A wicked smirk spread across his scarred face when he looked in Earth's direction.

"About time Optimus. What could've distracted you for all this time?" Megatron didn't linger on that thought for long. He went back to preparing for when his decepticons came for him. The same evil grin was on his face again as he regarded his work. There were rows upon rows of energon in front of him. During his time being stranded, he traveled all of Jupiter and its moons finding huge stock piles of energon. Of course, after every trip he'd pass out from exhaustion and have to hibernate for a few months at a time. With this amount of energon he gathered, he might have just won the energon wars without losing a single soldier. "I'm THAT good..."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, now y'all know what Megatron's been up to <strong>** he hasn't just been sitting on his bum, he be doing things for his army. What a great leader! **

**And Hey! The main characters got together, let's see how that is gonna work out. **

**Long Chapter, I know…I try to have them short cuz I feel like people like short chapters more, IDK you tell me O.o**

**Songs in order of ****appearance - i own nothing**

**1) Zero by Varsity Fanclub**

**2) Right Kind of Wrong by Leann Rimes**

**3) Welcome by The Blind Boys of Alabama**

**Don't forget to be AWESOME!**


	20. Chapter 20: Found

**Guess what happens in this Chapter, lol, anyways writing this Chap was interesting and i hope y'all like it. And for the record, this story is rated M for a reason**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20: Found<strong>

Before New Year's Eve, Charlotte and Derek were officially over. He had gotten back with Jennifer, while Charlotte came out with saying how she was with Optimus. Her father was curious as to where their relationship was going to go, her mother disapproved, and her brother was cool about it. Even though her mother didn't approve, Anna knew that Optimus was the best guy out there. He was a gentleman at heart who cared deeply about all living things, and he could easily keep Charlotte happy. His only flaw was that he wasn't human. Anna knew that Charlotte was old enough to make her own decisions, so she reluctantly allowed the autobot leader to date her daughter.

For New Years, the family went out. They went to a fancy hotel that was hosting a family friendly New Year's party. Charlotte's friends were also there, so the three of them had a blast dancing with Leo and Optimus until midnight. When the countdown for the New Year started, Charlotte decided to dedicate the year to sacrificing her needs for Optimus's needs. The holoform of Optimus slightly flickered in surprise when the countdown reached zero and Charlotte was kissing him. At first he was in shock, but then kissed her back. It felt weird since it was his holoform's lips getting all the action, but he knew that this was the only way for them to really kiss each other. Christine and Clarissa were giggling at the sight, but Leo decided to take a picture.

February proved to be interesting. For Valentine's Day Optimus gave Charlotte a truck full of her favorite candy, Reese's. She got Reese's Pieces, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Reese's Mini Cups, and loads of other types of the candy. He knew she would like her favorite candy more than the traditional heart-shaped box of chocolate.

"You know me so well, Oppy." Charlotte muttered with her mouth full of chocolate. She and Optimus were in their snow covered meadow, laying down while looking up into the heavens. Charlotte swallowed her candy, got out from under Optimus's hand, and stood up to get off his chest. However, she tripped over nothing, as usual, and ended up sliding down onto his face. She felt Optimus smirk from under her belly for she had fallen face first onto his metal face. _Well, since I'm here. I might as well_, she thought. "Thanks for the candy." She proceeded to kiss the middle of his face.

Optimus treasured the feeling of her soft lips on his metal skin. He muffled, "You're welcome, little one," and kissed her belly, causing her to giggle.

"Ah! Your signs of affection are tickling me!" She squirmed, unknowingly tickling his face. His laughing caused her to lose her footing, making her slid further down his face. Her head hovered above his smooth lips. Charlotte thought about it for a second, then went for it. She lowered herself and pressed her small lips against his, sharing their first kiss on the lips with his true form. It felt strange, but none the less, warmth spread all throughout both their bodies from the sign of love. Optimus didn't realize that he was slightly melting the snow he was laying on. They mutually felt a teasingly sweet sensation from the kiss they were sharing. Optimus's finger moved Charlotte's hair out of the way, then went to her back to rub it. He stopped massaging her when Charlotte pulled away, making the autobot leader pout. "So hey, quick question." Charlotte smirked at his pouty face.

"What is it?" Optimus quickly asked, wanting to get back to what they were doing.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at her needy boyfriend. "I was wondering if I could see your spark. You know, your life force you said I owned." She smiled playfully, lightly tracing her fingers across metal lips.

Optimus snapped out of his daze at the seriousness of the question. Having his spark uncovered and unprotected would leave him vulnerable. He believed that Charlotte was also unaware of just how sacred it was to see a bot's spark, and what it usually entitled when a bot exposed their spark willingly to another. "Well…" there wasn't any harm in her just _looking_ at it. "I guess if you really want to…" She nodded vigorously. "Alright then," Optimus propped himself up with his elbows, forcing Charlotte to slide onto his abs. He watched her curious face as he parted his chest plates. He had to shift the Matrix out of the way, but then he brought his spark out of its protective casing.

Charlotte gasped in amazement; she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Optimus' soul was a luminous gold, just like his optics. It shone brightly and pulsed powerfully. The gold and white energy swirled around itself, hypnotizing Charlotte. She couldn't help herself, she had to touch it. His spark gave a sharp pulse at being touched, but then its energy wrapped around her hand, welcoming her touch since it liked the attention. To Charlotte the spark felt like a warm, bendable force field. Her soft hand glided around the smooth, pulsing sphere, stroking it.

The sensations that erupted from his _very_ neglected spark made Optimus change his mind about telling Charlotte to stop touching it. He needed to look elsewhere from his human arousing his spark, so he let his head fall back in pleasure. A blissful shudder escaped Optimus, but it went unnoticed by Charlotte. The autobot's turned-on systems were humming, causing his fans to kick on to cool his overheating body. Optimus was gripping the ground, the throbbing desire for pleasure making it hard not to moan.

"Are you alright?" Charlotte abruptly stopped, noticing for the first time his strange behavior. She started to wonder if she was hurting him.

Optimus's head shot up, and he stammered, "Ye-yes…I'm fine." He knew she needed to stop, even if his body didn't want her to. He started sitting up fully, picking her up in the process. He knew he needed to distance her from his wanting spark.

"You sure?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. Optimus was acting really strange. He hurriedly closed his chest and went to put Charlotte on the ground beside him, but stopped. He was sitting in a large puddle; all the snow around him was completely melted. "Yeah, that's not weird…" she continued looking at him skeptically.

"Don't worry about it," Optimus ended up putting Charlotte down in another part of the meadow and went to roll in the snow to try and cool his overheating body. She continued to watch Optimus, confused by his actions. She had no idea that she had aroused Optimus by stoking his spark.

March was a lot less interesting than February. Other than Optimus getting butterflies whenever he saw Charlotte, it was a quiet month. The only interesting that was on St. Patrick's Day when Leo took control of the kitchen and baked everything green. All day they had green cookies, green cupcakes, and green brownies. They didn't even think green brownies were possible…

As for the April of Charlotte's senior year, it was filled with fun activities. It was decided by Charlotte and her friends that for prom that year, they were gonna go as a group of friends, so no one was allowed a date. Their plan worked perfectly since Christine and Clarissa were both single at the time, and Optimus didn't really want to go again. The three best friends had a wonderful time at their senior prom. Afterwards, they all went to Clarissa's house for a sleepover. They watched movies all night and ate junk food.

For spring break the senior class was invited to go to Sea World in California, hosted by the faculty and staff. Charlotte and her friends, along with the majority of the senior class, went. At the theme park, Optimus and Leo snuck in with the class and met up with Charlotte to watch the shows. The marine animals were something the bots had never seen before, and they greatly enjoyed them. On the last day before the school trip was to head back to Arizona, the senior class took an unexpected trip to the beach. They stayed late into the night dancing around bonfires and midnight surfing. Music was playing and Optimus's holoform was sitting on a log, watching Charlotte dance around the bonfire.

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell, _

_It was love from above, that could save me from hell, _

_She had fire in her soul it was easy to see, _

_how the devil himself could be pulled out of me, _

_There were drums in the air as she started to dance, _

_Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands, _

_And we sang..._

Charlotte noticed him watching and pulled him up to dance with her.

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, _

_And the voices rang like the angels sing, _

_We're singing..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, _

_And we danced on into the night, _

_Ay oh ay oh, _

_Ay oh ay oh, _

_And we danced on into the night,_

Charlotte's classmates could tell that the two of them were lost in each other. Girls thought it was a cute love story, while the guys continued acting like boys and thought nothing of it.

_Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place,_

_You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces,_

_we was spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes,_

_The room left them moving between you and I,_

_We forgot where we were and we lost track of time,_

_And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night,_

_And we sang..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, _

_And the voices rang like the angels sing,_

_We're singing..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,_

_And we danced on into the night,_

_Ay oh ay oh,_

_Ay oh ay oh,_

_And we danced on into the night,_

_Ay oh ay oh,_

_Ay oh ay oh,_

_And we danced on into the night,_

And that's exactly what they did, completely taken with each other. Neither of them cared that the other was an alien, for their relationship was built on a strong, understanding friendship. Their powerful bond didn't form because of liking the other's appearance, but rather their bond was formed from falling in love with the other's soul. They believed that they were meant for each other; their souls just got stuck in a different species' body.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cybertron – Praxus<strong>_

Moonshadow was on monitor duty, spinning around on the swivel chair, bored out of his mind. Nothing ever happened on monitor duty and there was no one else in the command center to keep him company. He decided to occupy himself by playing with his father's prototype gun. Ironhide had asked him to hold onto it before he was called to some meeting. Moonshadow was admiring the detail put into the weapon when the monitor randomly detected something and a mini alarm was set off. The sudden noise made the youngling jump, making him accidently fire the prototype gun and blasting a huge hole in a wall. Next thing Moonshadow knew, the headquarters' alarms were blaring all throughout the base.

"Scrap!" Moonshadow exclaimed as he hurriedly tried to shut off the deafening alarm and restore the 'All Clear' signal. He barely managed to shut the alarm off when two mechs came running in with their weapons drawn.

"Mewnshada, wha's goin on?" Jetfire asked as he put his twin rifles away since he saw no immediate danger.

The youngling was panting from his hunched over position above the controls. "False Alarm."

The other mech, Sideswipe, didn't put his swords away. His optics were narrowed as he regarded the black and dark blue youngling. "How do we know that's true? For all we know, decepticons are here and he is covering for them."

Jetfire trusted what Moonshadow said, but he couldn't openly do so since everyone still thought the kid was the traitor. "Come on na, Sides, we dun kno tha for sura. Let's 'ear wha he 'as to sey." Sideswipe still didn't power down his weapons, but he listened to Moonshadow's explanation. He explained that he accidentally shot the gun when a noise from the monitor went off, making him jump. Jetfire glanced at the screen, seeing that there was indeed a message there. "Ah roight, Oi believe ya." The air commander continued to make a quick announcement over the speakers to inform the other autobots that the alarm that went off was a false alarm. Jetfire then turned back to Moonshadow and the screen with the unread message. "Well, let's see wha it seys." He, Moonshadow, and a now disarmed Sideswipe gathered around the screen. Moonshadow opened the unknown message. "By Primus! Git Ironhoide ova 'ear NOW!" Moonshadow proceeded to call Ironhide on the emergency comlink line, while Sideswipe continued to stare unbelievably at the set of coordinates on the screen. Under the coordinates was a quote, 'You have a lot of growing up to do…"

Ironhide walked in, followed by Chromia, Ratchet, and Prowl. "What's wrong?" Ironhide glanced at the hole in the wall, then looked back at Moonshadow skeptically.

"He's not tha reason why Oi called ya. Take a look ah this." Jetfire gestured toward the screen with the message and coordinates. All their mouths dropped. "So, wha's tha plan?"

"Optimus is going to need a medic," Ratchet volunteered.

Ironhide agreed with him. "Mia and I will join you." He knew that if he was going, there was nothing he could do to keep Chromia from coming too. "It will be easier to go unnoticed by the decepticons if a small group goes. Jetfire, I'm leaving you in charge. We'll check in when necessary, but if you don't hear back from us then I'll let you figure out what to do."

"Yes Sar!" Jetfire saluted.

Not long after that a small shuttle was being prepared for the rescue party. In the hanger, Chromia gave Moonshadow a quick hug and told him that she'd be back before he knew she was gone. The youngling was uncomfortable knowing that both his parents were leaving. Back in the command center, Ironhide was drilling into Jetfire, Prowl, and Sideswipe the importance of the mission's secrecy. They needed to reach Optimus before the decepticons! The shuttle took off in high hopes, but its passengers had no idea that the mission was already a bust, for Laserbeak was waiting outside of Praxus. The mini bot sent a quick message to his master, saying how the autobots were making a sudden voyage and that he will follow at a distance.

"Soundwave Acknowledges."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Earth – Flagstaff, Arizona<strong>_

In no time at all, Charlotte and her friends were graduating. All three of them were planning on going to the universities that were close to each other. Charlotte was going to study Global Security and Intelligence, Christine Animation, and Clarissa Electro-Mechanical Engineering. Robert Ire was in charge of getting Charlotte to her graduation since Anna, Optimus, and Tony went early to help set up.

"Yo Ires! Y'all gonna be late, let's get a move on," Leo called from downstairs. There was a simultaneous yell from upstairs saying "Okay," but it was another ten minutes before either Ire appeared. Next thing Leo knew, the three of them were speeding down the road with Robert's police siren blaring.

"Speedbump!" Robert warned Charlotte, who momentarily stopped doing her eye makeup.

"Thanks," Charlotte acknowledged. Robert had a wicked smile on his face as he drifted his police cruiser around the corner and into a parking spot. They all ran out of the car and into the building where the graduation was taking place. Charlotte made it just in time to receive her diploma. It wasn't funny at the time to Anna, but she later laughed at the story.

After the graduation, Charlotte's parents threw her a party at their house. Naturally, many of the family members that came had questions as to who her boyfriend was, but the subject was always changed. For the party, Tony had invited some of his ROTC friends from school.

"Lottie, this is William Lennox and Robert Epps." Tony introduced his friends.

"Hello," Charlotte shook their hands with Optimus's holoform standing behind her. "This is my boyfriend, Orion." He also shook their hands. It didn't take long for a conversation to get going between all of them. By the end of the night, Charlotte and Optimus really liked Tony's friends. "They were really cool. I hope Tony brings them around more."

"They have the potential to be great soldiers." Optimus observed.

By the time nine o'clock rolled around, all the party guests were gone. Anna and Charlotte were in the kitchen eating ice cream while talking about the day's events. Tony and Leo were in the living room playing Xbox, but they were constantly trying to block the other's view so that they would win the game. Mr. Ire was looking all over the house for his phone, so he called it using his wife's phone. Robert jumped and did a little dance when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. "Haha, found it." He laughed to himself.

Optimus smiled at the scene. He noticed himself watching everything around him a lot more than usual. He wasn't doing so because he was paranoid or anything, but he was just trying to remember everything as it was, during a time of peace. He knew that when he was found, everything was going to change again. He wasn't sure what would happen to the Ire family once he left…he shook his head. 'Stop being a Negatron,' he said to himself. He decided to call it a night since he was tired.

"Sensei, where are you going?" Leo asked as Optimus's holoform headed for the door. The iPod had been calling Optimus 'sensei' ever since he watched the new Ninja Turtle movie and saw how the turtles referred to Splinter as either 'master' or 'sensei'. Leo's holoform also now always had a white bandana tied around his head.

"I'm going to catch some recharge. I'll see you tomorrow." Optimus ruffled Leo's light blue hair as he passed. The holoform disappeared as it reached the front porch and Optimus's real form started on its way to HQ. As he entered the camouflaged shield, a strange beeping noise was coming from the stone table. Optimus walked over to the little device on the table making the noise and peered down at it with a tilted head. "What's this?" He asked himself, but then he remembered. His hand shakily grabbed the device and pushed a button to stop it from making the beeping noise. The only reason for the device to go off was to signal Optimus to let him know that one of Goldstone's deep space satellites detected something Cybertronian. The thumb drive that Charlotte inserted into the Complex was designed to do so. Someone had received his message; someone was coming.

* * *

><p>"So he's on this planet?" Ironhide asked over Chromia's shoulder, who was piloting the ship that had just passed by Earth's moon.<p>

"Looks like it," the femme shrugged as she looked at the set of coordinates that they were following. She focused her attention back to the front of the ship. She saw that they were approaching a weird, disfigured metal device. "Hey Ratch, what do you make of that?"

The CMO got up from his seat to get a better look. He noticed that there were several of the metal devices around the planet. "Could this planet hold sentient life?" he said to no one in particular. "Bring us closer, I wanna get a good look at it." Chromia brought the small shuttle adjacent to the unknown metal. Ratchet went outside the ship and hacked into the satellite, downloading everything he could. He came back inside with a bewildered expression. "What an amazing species, so similar to ours…"

"You wanna explain what you're talking about?" Chromia put the ship on autopilot to head for the coordinates so she could give her full attention to Ratchet. The medic had so much he wanted to say, but didn't know where to start. Ironhide and Chromia stared blankly at the overly excited medic who kept muttering and saying unfinished phrases. None of them realized that they had entered the planet's atmosphere unshielded. They were lucky that it was nighttime and most of the humans were indoors, but just because the night sky hid them from view didn't mean that the ship was hidden from scanners and satellites. The shuttle was going straight to the coordinates that was programmed into it; therefore, it did not avoid any possible dangers. Before any of the three Cybertronians could react, the ship was hit with missiles. "Ah slag!" Chromia jumped back into the pilot's chair to take control of the shuttle.

"What hit us!?" Ironhide was gripping tightly onto the back of Chromia's chair since the ship was shaking madly.

"I told you two that this planet had sentient beings! We must have encountered its military." Ratchet was trying to get his seat belt back on.

The damage to the ship knocked out the controls. "We're going down! Brace yourselves!" Chromia warned. The ship crashed into a forest area, the trees catching fire. "Y'all alright?" she groaned.

There was the sound of something heavy being pushed aside, "You're a horrible pilot, Mia…"

"Shut up, Ratchet distracted me." Her seat belt was unbuckled by Ironhide who helped her out of her lopsided seat. They clearly underestimated the species that shot them down. "Ratch, where you at?"

"Over here," they heard him whisper.

"What is it?" Ironhide kept his voice low and approached the medic who had taken a knee. Ratchet pointed outside and Ironhide saw that they were surrounded by many small creatures. It didn't take a genius to know that they were carrying weapons. "I guess these little punks got some fight in them."

"We've already underestimated them and looked what happened." Ratchet pointed out. "If we try talking to them, say 'We Come in Peace'."

"Why would I say that?"

"According to their culture, it's what they've associated aliens saying when they land on their planet."

"If you say so…" Ironhide made sure his cannons were hidden so their message wouldn't get interpreted wrong, "Let's try the diplomatic approach," and he exited the crashed ship.

If only the autobots had come in contact with a different part of the United States' forces, for when the bots exited the ship, gunfire from all around was unleashed upon them. The humans that shot them down were none other than the Timber Wolves task force; the shuttle had flown right over their headquarters.

"So much for diplomacy!" Chromia shrugged as she brought out her own guns and aimed at the humans. At the last moment, her arm was hit downward and she shot the ground. "What was that for!?" she yelled in her native tongue at her mate who was using his body to block the bullets from hitting her.

"We're autobots, we don't go around shooting lesser life forms. Remember?" Ironhide growled in Cybertronian as he looked into her disapproving optics. He knew that killing came easy to her since that was a major part of her life before she met him. Their mini stare off came to an abrupt end when they heard a yelp coming from right beside them. "Ratchet, you alright?" Ironhide pulled the medic towards him so he could block him from getting shot as well.

"Fragging humans…" Ratchet was clutching his lower jaw.

Chromia couldn't suppress her giggle, "Weren't you just fanboying over them?"

Ratchet opened his mouth to argue, but couldn't think of a good comeback. From above him, Ironhide let out a grunt of pain. "So we can't shoot them, but we don't have to get shot by them either. What do we do?"

"I'm thinking…" Ironhide rumbled lowly; his back armor was starting to give.

Suddenly there was an explosion from behind the Timber Wolves members, making the rain of gunfire stop. Chromia and Ratchet poked their heads out from behind Ironhide to see what was going on. The humans were turning around and shooting at something from behind them. There was another explosion at the humans' feet, making all of them fly up along with chunks of dirt. The blast wasn't meant to be fatal to them, but merely to neutralize them. Ironhide turned around just in time to see what caused the humans to stop shooting; he saw Optimus Prime soldier roll out from behind the burning trees. Optimus stood up and shot another blast at the ground, causing the humans around to stumble and fall. The red and blue mech then beheld his autobots with protective optics, all they saw was their leader looking like a bad ass with a burning inferno behind him.

Optimus approached them. They forgot how his voice was a perfect balance between warmth and authority. "Aren't you supposed to be rescuing me?" They also forgot his level of sass.

Ironhide rolled his optics, "Yeah, yeah whatever…just lead us outta here!"

There was a smile on his face as Optimus stood up. He was so tempted to snap his fingers and say 'Don't tell me what to do, I do what I want' but decided against it. "Can you all transform?" he asked in Cybertronian. They all nodded. Optimus shot out another blast to disorganize the humans that were recovering, and another at the crashed ship. He couldn't let the Timber Wolves get their hands on their technology. "Autobots! Transform and Roll Out!" He had to admit, it felt good to be a leader again. His autobots followed him, but they had yet to scan Earth vehicles so they kind of stood out; they were going to have to fix that later. The small group tore through the wild fire, avoiding trees and humans, and found their way onto a paved road. "Ironhide, send out an EMP." Optimus ordered.

"Yes Sir!" Oh how the weapon specialist enjoyed no longer being leader. Ironhide's burst of energy was a lot stronger then Optimus had anticipated; it wiped out all power for several miles.

"Follow me." Optimus continued to lead his men away from danger. Once they were in the all clear, he slowed his pace. Optimus allowed his autobots to look around at the new world they discovered. Even though the power was out, they could still see all the buildings and structures the humans built. They passed by strange wildlife as well, Earth definitely intrigued them. Optimus drove them towards Charlotte's house, heading for his HQ. He didn't want to pass by her house, so they took a little detour. Outside the forest's edge, he transformed and went into the dark woods. His men wanted to question where they were going, but they trusted his judgment and followed suit. They walked for a while before they saw Optimus suddenly disappear through the camouflaged shield. Once they passed through it too, Optimus finally spoke in English. "Welcome to headquarters."

The three newcomers looked around the sad excuse of a headquarters. "This is cute." Ironhide smirked as he also tried English for the first time.

"It's very…homey…" Chromia tried to find the right Earth word. It didn't take her long to get comfortable with the language. "Come here, you." She approached Optimus and squeezed the life out of him. "I missed you!" She lifted the mech off the ground in her bear hug.

"Missed you to, Chromia." Optimus squeezed her in return, earning a giggle from her. Chromia was always like a big sister to him since she also knew him when he was a youngling. Optimus looked at the two other mechs watching them. "Don't you two wanna join in?"

Ratchet shrugged, "Might as well…" and he joined the hug. "That leaves you Ironhide."

The weapon specialist faked a shudder. "Y'all sickening me with all this femme fluff." Nevertheless, he went over to Optimus and hugged him. "We missed ya, kid…"

The youngest mech enjoyed the attention, but as he felt the Matrix stir within his chest, he knew he needed to break the moment. He cleared his throat and gently push everyone way. "So, back to business. What have I missed?" The autobots were used to Optimus getting close to them, then pushing away. He was a Prime after all and wasn't allowed to have any close relations with another Cybertronian. Even though they all knew the law issued by the Council centuries ago, it still hurt every time he pushed them away.

"Ironhide will explain everything to you while I fix your injures." Ratchet stated, mentally shaking off his hurt feelings. "Lie down," he gestured toward the stone table. Optimus did as he was told and Ratchet scanned him. "Aye! You're a mess." The medic observed. His patient had many old injuries that didn't heal properly. "I'm going to have to re-break your arm, among other things."

"Oh joy…" Throughout Ironhide's explanation of the war, Optimus's grunts and yelps could be heard. The rough procedure finished around the same time Ironhide did. "So Megatron hasn't been found either? That's interesting, and a little unsettling." Optimus noted. "As for the autobot turned-traitor, I don't know who to think of, which is also unsettling."

"Well, now that you've been brought up to speed, why don't you tell us what you've been doing all this time?" suggested Ironhide.

"Or how you knew that we needed your help back there with those armed humans?" Chromia added to her sparkmate's question.

Optimus started with her question since it was easier. "I have a device that detects our species' technology. When it picked up your unshielded signal I knew that someone was coming to find me. Of course I didn't know if it was autobot or decepticon, but it was obvious that whoever was coming to get me didn't see the humans as a threat. I went to that human facility since they have given me problems in the past and would have most likely picked up your signal. It just so happens that they shot you down and well, I went in anyways to help in any way I could."

Ironhide tried to get Optimus to answer his question, but Ratchet interjected. "Ah, no. My patient needs to rest if he is going to have a speedy recovery. Get some recharge, Optimus, we'll talk when you wake up. In the meantime, we'll get to know this planet a little better." When the Prime was all curled up and asleep in his shelter, Ratchet spoke quietly to Chromia and Ironhide. "How long do you think it will take Jetfire to realize the rescue party needs rescuing?"

"It's out of our hands, let's not worry about it," remarked Chromia. She was gazing at a herd of deer that was nearby, "For now, we need to learn as much as we can about this planet that we're stranded on." Ratchet and Ironhide agreed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Earlier<strong>_

The autobot shuttle had just passed by the planet Saturn when Laserbeak, who had hitchhiked the entire way, jumped off. The mini bot followed the ship at a distance, confused. He had been in this area before when he had followed Starscream to the small blue planet. Laserbeak stopped and hovered near Jupiter as he watched the autobots continue forward. He saw them get pass the blue planet's single moon and stop at a metal device similar to the one Starscream had seen. The mini con wasn't sure if he should continue to follow the autobots, or to head back to Soundwave. He turned to leave when a faint signal, a signal that was not broadcasting when the autobot ship flew by, coming from one of the giant orange planet's moons caught his attention. Laserbeak proceeded with caution as he approached the signal's source. He first came upon rows upon rows of energon, but that wasn't the biggest surprise.

"Laserbeak? Ah, it is you. I see me waiting to broadcast my signal till the autobot ship passed proved to be a good choice. Now, how has my favorite little spy been?" Megatron held out his arm and Laserbeak landed gracefully on it. The bird-like decepticon chirped happily as Megatron stroked him and fed him energon. The mini con ate hungrily, making the decepticon War Lord wonder when the last time the little bot had a proper meal. "Ugh, how bad has Starscream messed things up?" Megatron shook his horned head. "Doesn't matter, I'm here, eat up." Laserbeak ate his fill and went back to flying happily all around Megatron. He laughed, "Yes, I'm happy to see a familiar face too. Now, I'm sorry to put you back to work so soon, but I need you to go back to Cybertron and notify trustworthy decepticons of my whereabouts. Can you do that?" Megatron playfully stroked Laserbeak again, earning more cheerful chirps. The mini con momentarily snuggled around Megatron's neck and under his chin before taking off back to Cybertron at top speed.

* * *

><p><strong>Bam! Autobots arrive! Aw! Megs has a soft side! What will happen now!?<strong>

**Anyways, I got a new editor so giving her some Props (sending love) thx Captain!**

**Song = Into the Night by Santana (It always seemed to me like a good Bonfire song)**


	21. Chapter 21: Angel with a Shotgun

**So I didn't get that many reviews in the last chapter****, but that's okay. All I need is **_**ONE**_** to continue writing****!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 21: Angel with a Shotgun<strong>

Instead of the pleasant sounds of nature being the first thing Optimus heard when he awoke, he instead heard the sound of heavy footfalls. _That's not Leo…_he thought to himself. He sat up confused, but then he remembered the previous night. _Oh, yeah…_he sighed. Silently stretching his sore body, he listened to his autobots residing outside his vine covered shelter. From what he could tell, Ironhide was doing a patrol of the area, Chromia was most likely sitting with her feet propped up at the stone table cleaning her already spotless weapons, and Ratchet sounded like he was grumbling to himself by the creak. _Right…autobots, the war…responsibilities…_Optimus moaned. He didn't want to leave his shelter yet; he was still processing the fact that his quiet life with the Ire family was going to take a drastic turn. _How am I going to tell Leo?_ He groaned into his hands. His silent worrying started fading when he heard a new voice approaching the camouflaged shield.

"I am the Champion, my friends," it sang, "and I'll keep on fighting to the end, beo-neo-neon," the female voice imitated an electric guitar.

Optimus smiled as he relaxed, laying back down. _Charlotte…_the human who stole his distant spark. _I'll never get tired of her cheerful voice._

"I am the Champion, I am the Champion! Gone is the loser, cause I am the Champion!" Charlotte sang loudly; she was imitating a scene from the movie Chicken Little. "Of the World!" she jumped into the camouflaged shield, landing in an excited, victory pose. At first she failed to notice the three new bots staring at her in surprise, but she looked up when she heard the sound of blasters powering up. There was a moment of silence as three different sets of guns aimed at an unyielding Charlotte. It was broken by the sound of Optimus tearing out of his shelter, sliding across the now vacant stone table, and landing between Charlotte and the deadly weapons.

"Hold your fire!" He ordered from his protective position. He was kneeling with one hand shielding Charlotte and he had the other held up to his autobots. They did as they were told, although they did so hesitantly. Ignoring his autobots, Optimus turned his back on them and gently picked up Charlotte. "Are you alright?" His rich voice was overflowing with concern.

"I am now," She replied, a little unnerved, from within his sheltering hands.

Leo decided that now was the perfect time to make his presence known. "What's going on?" He asked as he popped out of Charlotte's front pocket.

"He's not the only one wondering…" came a gruff voice that could only belong to Ironhide. He, along with the other two autobots, were trying to look over Optimus' shoulder to get a better look at what he was holding.

Introductions were needed, Optimus knew that, but he saw that Charlotte was hesitant to meet the bots who, moments ago, were ready to kill her. His back was still turned, so Optimus stroked Charlotte's back to reassure her that he was there and going to protect her. At his kind gesture, Charlotte shook off her childish fear. She nodded confidently at Optimus as a signal to continue on to the introductions. He smiled calmingly at her, then turned to his autobots with his game face on. "Autobots, this is Charlotte, my…" he paused for the briefest of seconds, trying to decide what he should call Charlotte since 'girlfriend' was out of the question, "charge." He continued to put Charlotte on his shoulder.

"Hello Autobots, thanks for not blasting me to smithereens." She smiled, trying to break the ice.

Before the bots could reply, Leo was already out of Charlotte's pocket and on her shoulder. "And I'm Leonardo, but my buddies call me Leo. I'm Optimus's apprentice/padawan! Who are you?" he titled his small head.

The three autobot warriors glanced between themselves, trying to decide who would talk first. Chromia, not being shy, spoke for all three of them. "My name is Chromia. This is my sparkmate Ironhide, the autobots' Second-in-Command and weapons specialist." She intertwined fingers with him, and then indicated to Ratchet with her other hand. "And this is the autobots' Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet."

Charlotte perked up in interest. "Hey! I know you guys, Optimus talks about you all the time."

"Funny, he hasn't mentioned anything about you." Ironhide said irritably. [Don't be a jerk.] Chromia warned through their bond. Ironhide suppressed an eye roll.

"Let me fix that then," Optimus smiled calmly, knowing that the autobots wanted to know what had happened to him in his time of absence. "But first let me bring Charlotte and Leo up to speed. It won't take long," he quickly added after seeing the impatient looks he was getting from his autobots. They looked really out of place with a forest background instead of decimated metal buildings. Optimus picked up Charlotte and Leo and set them both down on the stone table. He hastily explained to them the previous night's events. After that, Optimus addressed his autobots and told them of his adventures on Earth, with Leo and Charlotte butting in every once in a while for more elaboration.

Now that everyone was on the same page, the tense atmosphere faded. The autobots realized that Charlotte and Leo weren't threats and were eager to learn some more about humans and their customs. During their one night on Earth, Chromia, Ironhide, and Ratchet had already scanned Earth vehicles and learned some of Earth's other languages. They still weren't experts on humans or their ways, so Ironhide and Chromia got to know Charlotte and Leo better. While they got better acquainted, Ratchet pulled Optimus aside since he had some questions about Leo. Optimus briefly explained Leo's creation, but wanted to quickly change the subject since Ratchet would most likely want to study the IPod. Before Optimus gave Ratchet the chance, he distracted the medic with his holoform. This little creation greatly intrigued Ratchet, and it kept his mind off of Leo. While the medic was distracted, Optimus slipped away. He walked past Ironhide and Leo. They were talking about weapons or something, he didn't really catch much of their conversation, but it sounded like Ironhide was going to make something for Leo. Optimus continued on his way to Charlotte and Chromia. The two seemed to had already formed a bond since Charlotte was sitting on Chromia's shoulder and talking actively.

"So what you're telling me is that there is literally just a handful of femmes left?" Charlotte was asking, stunned.

"Yep." Chromia nodded affirmably, accidentally hitting a tree branch with her head and having leaves falling everywhere. She tried blowing them away with her breath, but the wind picked up and blew them back into her face. "Blah…nature," she spat, trying to get the leaves out of her mouth.

Charlotte ignored her troubles, "But how will your species survive without a means to repopulate? There aren't enough girls." Chromia lightly laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Oh Charlotte, I think you're forgetting that I'm part of an alien species. We don't do everything the same way as humans, despite our many similarities." The light blue femme reminded. She saw the confused look on Charlotte's face and turned to Optimus for the first time. "Don't tell me you never told her about our sexuality, Optimus?"

If his robot mode could blush, it would be doing so. "I never saw why I needed to tell her about it." He answered awkwardly.

Chromia rolled her optics and looked back to the human on her shoulder. "For your information, my race does not require a femme to make a sparkling. Two mechs could do it, or even two femmes, but they'll need a medic's help."

"Wait, what!" Charlotte wasn't prepared for this information, though she was curious. Optimus suddenly had a coughing fit. "Are you alright?" she asked, distracted.

"Uh, yes! Lottie look, your mom is calling." He pointed to her cell phone that was in her pocket. Sure enough, it was ringing.

She answered it. "Hey mama." She paused and listened to her mother. "Oh okay, I'll be right over." Charlotte hung up. "She wants me back at the house. You guys should come to, my folks already know you exists so no harm done."

Chromia liked the idea. "We would love to meet your family." Ironhide approached her with Leo dangling off the front of his head. "Won't we?" she asked sternly, putting Charlotte on the stone table.

"It's not like we have anything better to do," he shrugged. "We're stuck here until Jetfire sends a rescue party." Ironhide plucked Leo off his head and put him on the stone table next to Charlotte. Then he shouted over to Ratchet, "What do you think, Ratch? Wanna go meet some more humans?"

The medic picked up dirt and pine cones as he walked over excitedly. "Sure, and this is a perfect opportunity to test my new Holoform Program!"

"Holo-what?" Ironhide asked, arms crossed.

"It is a little invention of Optimus's," Ratchet informed as he gave Chromia and Ironhide the programming for the holoforms. "I've just perfected it, no offense Optimus. You did an excellent job, but it needed a few tweaks." He continued to give Optimus and Leo his version of the new and updated holoform programming.

"What was wrong with mine?" Optimus asked Ratchet, while Leo and Charlotte explained what a holoform was to Ironhide and Chromia in the background.

"Yours only had a general appearance feature. My version analyzes the Cybertronian's spark, downloading that specific bot's personality traits. The holoform is then created appearing exactly as that Cybertronian were to look if he or she was a human. I also added a sensory system, thus allowing the user to feel the pain of a stubbed toe or the wind on their face. This system also allows the user to taste what the humans call 'food'. With my updated version of your invention, we autobots can fully understand what it feels like to be human." Ratchet said with a triumphant smile on his face.

Optimus couldn't help but feel that Ratchet went a little overboard, but he didn't have the spark to tell him. "Oh, then thank you Ratchet. It will be interesting to feel all the things humans do."

All the autobots then activated their new holoform program. They all had their sparks scanned and analyzed, and then holoforms started to appear. Charlotte noticed Leo's new look first since he was standing next to her. The once short, lean kid was now taller than her, and standing at 5'6" with a lightly toned, muscled body. Leo had a light blue undercut hairstyle with a long white sash tied around his forehead, similar to the old fashioned ninjas. He wore a plain light blue muscle shirt and a pair of grey jeans with white padding strapped to the sides. The padding had light blue autobot insignias on them. Leo also had on white shoes with light blue straps for laces and white fingerless gloves. The only thing that looked unchanged were his mischievous, baby blue eyes.

Optimus also had some changes, but they weren't as drastic as Leo's. Optimus still had his navy blue hair in a ponytail, it was only shorter. He still wore his tight black shirt that outlined his wonderfully worked out abs, and his red jacket with the blue windshield design was the same except that the autobot insignia was now on the sides of the shoulders. His jeans had been replaced with gray cargo pants that were tucked into his dark blue combat boots. His face also looked a little older to Charlotte.

After Optimus, Charlotte noticed Chromia. She was easy to pick out since she was the only other female. Chromia, who looked like she worked out regularly, was a dirty blonde with light blue highlights. The sides of her hair were tightly braided back into the rest of her hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore a short black leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up, and a light blue, skin tight under shirt. Her black gothic punk pants fitted her form perfectly and her chained combat boots added a nice touch. To top it all off she had a light blue strap on her right arm with the autobot insignia, and she also wore spiked fingerless gloves. Her light blue eyes looked wild and ready for anything.

Right next to her, Charlotte guessed, was Ironhide. He wasn't what she was expecting, though, when she saw how brawny he was, she couldn't argue with that. Ironhide's dark blue eyes looked hard from under his black cowboy hat. His tanned skin was full of scars, but the most notable would be the large one that covered his right eye. From what Charlotte could see, he had short black hair and a stubbed beard. He wore an all-black cowboy looking shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black jeans, along with black cowboy boots that had a bullet with wings on it for a design. His autobot insignia was his huge belt buckle.

Charlotte saw Ratchet last. The medic wasn't nearly as big as Ironhide, but he still had muscles to show. Ratchet's holoform had light brown hair, considered to be medium in length with one side brushed back and the other curled over the top half of his face. His blue eyes hid behind red reading glasses that had small autobot insignias on the sides. He had a little light brown chin goatee as well. Ratchet wore a dark green, short sleeved dress shirt, along with a dark red tie, that he wore loose for comfort. Over his shirt he had on a black sleeveless hoodie. His very dark blue, almost black cargo pants hid his faded combat boots. Ratchet's new holoform program proved to be incredibly accurate since the CMO's holoform had a healing little scar on his chin, the injury caused by the previous night's encounter with the Timber Wolves. The cut was the result of when they were shooting at him and one of their bullets grazed his lower jaw.

Every single one of the autobots looked like they could be a god or goddess from Olympus dressed in modern clothing according to Charlotte. "Well, I guess I won't be getting any looks when I'm walking down the street from now on with you guys hanging around me. Everyone is going to be looking at you." She shrugged. "Whatevs...now that we got that situated, can we go now?" All the autobots nodded and followed her to her house. Once she was in the door, she shouted, "Mom! We have guests. They're some of Optimus's friends."

There was a simultaneous "What?" from three different directions as Anna, Robert, and Tony came into view. They all stopped in their tracks when they saw the strangers in their house. They guessed that one of them was Leo, even though he looked different, but the rest they did not know. Optimus quickly introduced everyone to each other. Conversation was started and Ironhide ended up talking with Anna.

"So you work with those humans who tried to capture us last night?" Ironhide's holoform towered over Anna, but she didn't seem fazed.

"Yes, but I wasn't on duty last night. Otherwise, we might have caught you," she joked, but then turned serious. "I recommend that you guys keep things on the down low for a while. One of my coworkers is obsessed with capturing one of you and right now things are probably on a hair-trigger."

"We'll be careful." He reassured. Ironhide was debating on telling her that he respected the type of woman she was for working in a male dominated field and performing well, but he was distracted by Tony. The young adult couldn't stop eyeing Chromia's holoform. "Oi! Keep your eyes off my gal!" Tony jumped at the outburst and was frozen in place as Ironhide stomped his way over to him.

Right when he was about to reach him, Chromia grabbed the back of his belt and dragged him back towards her. "Down boy." She smirked. Ironhide lightly growled in Tony's direction and pulled Chromia closer to him by the waist.

While all that was going on, Optimus snuck into the kitchen to have a silent discussion with Charlotte. "Lottie, my dear, you know we need to keep our relationship a secret around my autobots, right?" he whispered.

"Of course!" she whispered back. "I just don't know how we are going to relay that message to everyone else without making it obvious." She said worriedly, leaning into Optimus's holoform and feeling a spark beat for the first time. She silently thanked Ratchet for the upgrade. Right then, Leo zoomed around the corner and went straight for the fridge. The couple quickly broke apart. "Whatcha doing, Leo?" she asked as she saw him grab a cup, the milk, and the strawberry syrup from the pantry.

"I'm finally gonna try strawberry milk! I see you and Tony drinking it all the time, and now I can _taste_ it!" Leo quickly made his drink and took a sip. His eyes widen and then he downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. "This is fantastic! Sensei, you must try this!" He hurriedly made another drink and shoved it into Optimus's hands. Leo waited patiently for him to finish. "So! What do you think?"

Optimus licked his lips. "I want more," he grinned.

"Mama, I think you're gonna have ta make a gourmet meal or something tonight. The bots have taste buds now." Charlotte laughed as she saw Leo and Optimus fight over the milk.

Not long after that, Anna quickly put together a small meal for the autobots to try. The kitchen table was full of various foods and happy people. The Ire family and the autobots got along really well, but during the meal, Ironhide couldn't help but notice the closeness between Charlotte and Optimus. Their actions would have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye, but Ironhide had been around for a very long time and he could tell when someone was hiding something. He didn't get the chance to question it though because everyone was getting up from their seats and heading outside.

"Ironhide? Are you coming?" Ratchet's holoform asked.

"Where are we going?"

"Outside. The humans want to see our robot forms. Come on," the medic started dragging him to the door.

"But we can't just waltz around with our real bodies. Satellites and passing planes will see us. Anna said we need to be careful." Ironhide objected.

"Calm down. Optimus is taking us to a bigger clearing that is also covered by a camouflaged shield. Apparently the coordinates that he sent us was leading us to this clearing. Weren't you listening?" Ratchet questioned irritably.

"No, my mind was somewhere else…" Ironhide followed Ratchet to a large meadow where Optimus and the others were waiting. Chromia had already been fawned over by the humans so now the attention was all on Ironhide and Ratchet. It wasn't long after that when the new arrivals were asked to transform. Chromia transformed into a light blue McLaren 12C Spider, Ironhide a black GMC Topkick, and Ratchet, ironically enough, transformed into a green Hummer H2 rescue vehicle.

"Mr. Ire, know any places where I can test how fast this Earth vehicle goes?" Chromia asked. Robert wasn't usually one for breaking the law, but he could always make an exception for the autobots. He told her of a nearby stretch of road where she could go as fast as she liked without the cops butting in. She thanked him and gave everyone the ride of their life.

As the day went on, Anna and Robert had to leave since they were behind on paperwork and Tony left because Ironhide kept giving him a hard time. So Charlotte was left with all the autobots in the meadow clearing. She was with Optimus on the far side, away from everyone, climbing a tree. Optimus was there in case she fell. The others were relaxing in the shade, waiting for Jetfire's rescue party.

"How long do you think it'll be until reinforcements arrive?" Chromia asked. She was leaning back on Ratchet who was also sitting.

The medic answered since Ironhide didn't look like he was paying attention. "I say by the end of this day or early tomorrow morning. What do you think, Hide?" Ratchet tried bringing him into the conversation.

Ironhide brushed off the medic's question. "I have an idea that will help pass the time." His statement confirmed that he hadn't been paying attention. Instead, Ironhide walked over to Optimus and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He and Charlotte looked at the black mech. "Lil Lette, mind if I steal him for a little while?" Ironhide used his own nickname for Charlotte.

"Go ahead, I'll just wait here." She sat in a secure spot high up in the tree she was in.

"What is it?" Optimus asked when he and Ironhide had reached the middle of the meadow.

"How about a little sparring match, eh? You're probably a little out of shape from the lack of practice." Ironhide smirked.

Optimus didn't like the glint in the other mech's optics. "Alright…"

All eyes were on them as they both took wider stances and put their arms up. Ironhide made the first move and advanced towards Optimus. In the beginning, it was a light sparring match, but things soon started to heat up. Optimus noticed Ironhide going harder and harder, getting to the point where it was really hurting Optimus's still healing body. He didn't understand why his Second-in-Command was going so hard until they were entangled really close to each other.

"You didn't think I would notice your little fling with Charlotte, did you?" Ironhide spoke loud enough only for Optimus to hear. The autobot leader narrowed his optics, understanding his opponent's intentions. Ironhide's laugh wasn't a heartfelt one. "I see the way you look at her; it's the same way I look at Chromia, but there is a slight difference. You look at Charlotte with longing since you know you can't have her in _that_ way." Next thing Ironhide knew, his nose was broken and bleeding.

On the sidelines, Leo winced. "What did Ironhide say to Optimus?"

Chromia shrugged, "Whatever it was, it pissed Optimus off…"

The two titans continued their fight with Ironhide talking loud enough for only Optimus's auto-receptors to hear. "You're a Prime, Optimus! What gives you the right to break our ancient laws and traditions?!"

The spectators heard Optimus's fake laugh, it sent chills up their spines. "Those laws haven't been enforced since the days of the Council. And like you said, I am a Prime so I can do whatever I want since my word is law!" By now, everybody could hear their conversation. Optimus maneuvered around Ironhide and managed to give him a dead leg, making the black mech take a knee. Optimus paced back and forth, waiting for his opponent to rise again, and when he did, they both went back to their fighting stances. "Besides, it's not like you can enforce those restricting laws on me; you can't beat me."

It was Ironhide's turn to chuckle. "I think you forget that I helped raise you, youngling!" The older mech easily dodged Optimus's next attacks. This frustrated him and one of his punches was sloppier than he intended. Ironhide used this opportunity to his advantage and grabbed the younger bot's arm. He was able to pin Optimus with it and he pushed him to the ground. "Give up?" Ironhide twisted the arm. Pain shot through Optimus, but instead of weakening him, the pain ignited a spark in him. The little spark turned into a burning inferno that hadn't been this huge since his last encounter with Megatron. Using a wrestling move he learned on Earth, Optimus got out of the pin. "Hey!" Ironhide was shoved off and didn't have time to recover as Optimus came at him from all sides. The autobot leader moved with speed that should not have been possible for a mech his size. Before Ironhide could even comprehend that he lost, he was lying in the fetal position on the floor. Once he felt that he wasn't getting hit anymore, Ironhide peeked his head out from his arms and looked up at Optimus Prime's towering figure. In that moment, the weapons specialists could easily understand why some decepticons ran from the battlefield when they knew Optimus was going to be there.

"Ironhide, you are hereby demoted. You are no longer Second-in-Command of the autobot army." Optimus's authoritative voice rang out loud and clear over the meadow clearing. He then turned away from the defeated warrior and went straight to Charlotte who was still waiting anxiously in a tree.

"Oh slag…" Chromia and Ratchet came and helped Ironhide up. "What the hell was that all about?"

"I don't know if you two have noticed anything, but take a closer look at Optimus and Charlotte." Ironhide grunted, his body was aching. The other bots didn't really need to since they had also noticed, but chose not to say anything.

"Hide…we already know." Chromia was avoiding his optics by picking twigs out of his armor. She could feel his disbelief and anger spike through their bond. "Don't take it out on me!" She warned, "I'll whip your aft worse than Optimus did!"

He wasn't going to argue with her on that. "So what? You two were just going to let their little fling go on and see what happens? You guys know the laws-"

"Says a fellow law breaker," Ratchet reminded. "But the Council's laws never really made sense to me, and thanks to Megatron, all the Council members are dead so we can't ask them."

"Besides, I noticed that Charlotte looks at Optimus the same way I look at you, Ironhide." Chromia's soft touch grazed her mate's scarred optic. "It's the way you look at your soulmate." She gazed into his darker blue optics. "He looks at her the same way. He'd give up everything for her and not look back. He doesn't even care if he'll be shunned by his own kind."

"Chromia is right you know." Ratchet butt in, trying to make his presence known to them since they seemed to be getting lost in each other.

"I guess I owe Optimus an apology then, huh?" Ironhide sighed.

"You betcha!" Leo came out of nowhere. "Sensei is Lottie's angel with a shotgun." He winked, but the others didn't get his song reference. "Oh yeah," he face palmed, "Y'all are new here. Anyways, I recommend that song. I find that it is starting to describe their relationship pretty well."

* * *

><p>Laserbeak had just flown past the dwarf planet, Pluto, when a small ship came into view. It was approaching the minicon so he stopped, unsure if the unknown vessel was a friend or foe. As it got closer, Laserbeak recognized the ship as the fastest ship in the decepticon fleet; he could also sense his master's presence onboard. The ship's doors opened and the minicon flew inside and landed on Soundwave's waiting shoulder.<p>

Blackout was the one piloting the ship and turned around when he saw Laserbeak inside. He waited patiently while Laserbeak informed Soundwave of his discovery. "So? Did he find anything?" He asked. Scorponok, who was resting at his feet, looked up in interest. Soundwave turned toward Blackout, his visor showing Megatron from Laserbeak's point of view. Blackout was momentarily silent from shock, but then a sincere smile broke across his usually grumpy face. "Where?" He asked excitedly. Soundwave's visor displayed Jupiter, and then it zoomed in on one of its moons. "Got it." A little outline of dust was left as the ship took off at top speed.

Within no time the vessel was already landing on the volcanic moon, Lo, where Megatron was looking up in confusion. "That was fast…" The decepticon War Lord watched as some of his most loyal followers exited the ship.

Soundwave and Blackout appeared unfazed by the blistering heat as they approached Megatron, kneeling at his feet. "My Lord, apologies for taking so long to find you." Blackout spoke, but he was unable to look at his Master for all he felt was shame; he should have tried harder to find him. Soundwave, as usual, never said a word.

Megatron regarded his servants. Normally he would not accept failure lightly, but he was feeling unusually forgiving at the moment. Most likely due to the fact that he was just really happy to see them. "Apology accepted, but do not fail me again," he cautioned. The bots bowing before him rose. "Now, I have gathered a significant amount of energon from this planet and its surrounding moons. Load it on board quickly; I need to return to Cybertron." Blackout and Soundwave took off at once to follow his wishes, but Laserbeak remained behind. Megatron extended his arm and the bird bot landed on it. "Here is another treat for returning so fast." Laserbeak chirped in thanks. However, Megatron knew that even if the minicon flew at his fastest, there was no way he could have been back with help so early. "So how is it that I am being rescued earlier than I predicted?"

Blackout continued to work as he answered his master. "Laserbeak was following an autobot ship to this part of the galaxy. At first we thought nothing of it, but then Soundwave realized that this sector had been searched before. He didn't see it as a coincidence and followed Laserbeak. We saw him flying back and weren't sure if it was a false alarm or not, but it turns out he found you. All credit goes to Soundwave."

This news was interesting to Megatron. "This area was searched before?" This time Soundwave answered by showing a picture of Starscream and then a video of Laserbeak following the seeker to Earth. "Starscream," Megatron growled. Laserbeak felt his furious aura and flew off him and returned to Soundwave. "Work faster!" Megatron commanded, he wanted off this rock.

All of Soundwave's minicons were dispatched, along with Scorponok, so that the job would get done faster. Megatron was waiting inside the ship, seething. Once all the energon was on board, the decepticon ship took off at top speed. It was lucky for Blackout and Soundwave that it was the fastest ship because Megatron was as impatient as ever now that he got some of his old bloodlust back. Once Cybertron was in view, Megatron took control of the steering wheel. Instead of going straight to Kaon, like the other decepticons thought, he took them to the destroyed remains of Central City. The ship started descending and picking up a lot of dust. Soon, the bots couldn't see out the windows.

"Sir?" Blackout quietly questioned.

Ignoring him, Megatron landed the ship in the rubble of what was once the Council's meeting chamber. "Wait here," he ordered as he climbed out of the ship. Even though he was blind he made his way through the debris until he found what he was looking for, a secret entrance to another floor below. He entered an ancient room where there sat a half hidden bot. The dark individual looked at home from his seated position on the throne. Megatron bowed his horned head. "I have returned, my Master," and Megatron kneeled before his superior.

"Megatron...my disciple," the powerful voice purred. "I was beginning to worry about you." The hidden bot came into view. He was unlike any other Cybertronian of the age. His twisted black body had glowing orange designs all throughout it. His towering form approached Megatron and guided the younger mech to rise with his clawed finger under his chin. "Let me look at you." The far older mech examined Megatron's broken, turquoise optic, "tsk tsk tsk..." He saw how the top half of one of his horns was also broken off. Megatron's black, turquoise, purple, and gold armor was covered in soot and in need of many repairs. "I don't understand how you manage to get so banged up. You're wearing my gift, the armor of Unicron the Destroyer, and yet you are still greatly damaged. I thought I, and all of your years in the arena, taught you better."

"Forgive me, Master. It's just that my opponent knows all of my fighting techniques."

"And whose fault is that?!" The black and orange mech growled, his grip now hurting Megatron. "It is yours! You just had to be best friends with Optimus in the academy, didn't you? Taught him all that you knew! And now thanks to him, the war has lasted so long that our species is on the brink of extinction!" Megatron flinched at the outburst. "Sshhh," the scarred face of Megatron was suddenly caressed. "Now now, my adopted son, you will not show weakness."

"Yes...Fallen…" Megatron's face was neutral.

"Good," the Fallen smiled and sat back in his throne. "So, tell me of the outside world." Megatron told his Master of his experience of being lost in space, and of all the energon he had gathered. He told him of some of his future plans for the autobots as well. But the Fallen had heard enough. "Just finish it, Megatron. I'm tired of this war." The decepticon leader bowed again and was on his way out when the Fallen spoke up and mumbled Megatron's old, childhood name.

The departing mech stopped dead as unwanted memories from his youth came rushing to the surface. Those memories brought with them some of his old, childhood fury. He could never tell his caretaker that he hated it when his old nickname was used. It was precious to him and only a select few could use it, but all those bots were dead... Nevertheless, Megatron turned to the bot that had saved his life as a child. "Yes?" Megatron tried to ask as politely as possible.

"Make sure you actually kill Optimus this time."

Megatron bowed one last time, and left. When Soundwave saw the outline of his leader returning to the ship, he started activating all the controls so everything would be ready when he arrived. Once Megatron was inside they took off for Kaon, where the War Lord unleashed all his pent up anger. At first the decepticons thought the autobots had attacked with some mighty weapon, but then they realized it was something much worse. Megatron stormed his fortified city with ease, of course there wasn't much resistance after a while since word got around that the bot attacking was their leader. However, that news somehow failed to reach Starscream.

The command center's doors blasted open, scaring the slag out of the seeker. "Decepticons, open fire on the intruder!" Starscream shrieked his order as he made a run for it. No shots were fired. "What are you idiots doing?! Fire!"

"It is no mystery as to why my mighty Empire has fallen." The voice that had haunted Starscream's dreams fumed. The frightened seeker saw Megatron followed by a large number of his loyal followers enter the room.

"Lord Megatron...it...it is a miracle! You have returned to us!" Starscream instantly started praising, his voice obviously filled with panic.

"Yes, if that's what you want to call it." Megatron sneered. "You filthy, incompetent, worthless piece of trash!" Decepticons from all over the city could hear Starscream living up to his name as Megatron let him have it.

Afterwards, when he had calmed down, Megatron quickly organized a small group of decepticons to join him on his war ship that was to head for Earth. Coming with him were Soundwave, Blackout, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Barricade, Nightbird, Dreadwing, and Skyquake along with a large number of vehicons. Before their departure, Megatron made a visit to the medbay, not to see Starscream, but to have his own old injuries looked at. Eventually he was finally cleared to go. On his war ship, Megatron ordered his select few decepticons to their stations; they were heading for Earth. While they were traveling, the War Lord had a quiet moment to recall his earlier conversation with the Fallen. "Tronus…" he said his childhood nickname to himself. He had always been fond of the nickname his older brother had given him. Megatron assumed that his brother was too young at the time to say his full name, 'Megatronus'. When The Fallen found him, he had shortened his name to Megatron since he said it sounded more powerful, and that his old name was the name of a weak, beaten sparkling. According to the Fallen, Megatron needed to just forget his old life, but he couldn't; he would always remember his brother who died fighting for him…"Orion".

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><p><strong>Follow Leo's advice and check out the song <strong>**Angel with a Shotgun**** by The Cab if you haven't already heard it, and if you have heard of it, go check it out again. Also, if you didn't recognize Charlotte's ****Champion**** song from the movie "Chicken Little", watch that scene on YouTube. **

**Here is a quick thanks to Captain, my editor. She makes sure the chapters make sense before if give them to you ;) **

**I also think I can fix my review issue now that I think about it. I think I've been too nice to you guys, y'all need some cliff hangers**_**. You Have Been Warned**_** :D **


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